


Playing Well with Others

by PentoPaperWriter



Category: Castle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-06-27 12:49:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 43,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15685773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PentoPaperWriter/pseuds/PentoPaperWriter
Summary: Kate is a nurse and a damned good one. Her patients come first there is no question about her drive to comfort people in their time of need. Rick is a world class chef. He studied abroad and can make you something that will be cherished when you bite into it. He is a foodie at heart. But both of them have a past that would make them think twice about their love lives again. Could they ever love again?





	1. Chapter 1

If I had just one more day  
I would tell you  
how much I've missed you  
since you've been away

Ohh it's dangerous  
and so out of line  
to try and turn back time

I'm sorry for blaming you  
for everything I just couldn't  
and I've hurt myself  
by hurting you

Hurt by Christina Aguilera

The third shift is the shift she owns. She has been here on this shift for over ten years and knows the ins and outs of this department like the back of her hand. She works with three other dedicated men and women here in the ER at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and together they can provide care for just about any type of injury or burn that comes through the door. They are a level 1 trauma center and have been awarded the American Nursing Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program four times since 2004. And as recently as of this year 2018 they received their fourth designation.

She loves the overnight shift. The reason being is that she could concentrate on her patients and not worry that much about the bosses and how they micromanaged the personnel on the day shift. Life was good. Well almost good. There were exceptions to the times. On July 7th about two years ago it was like a war was declared on the city of Dallas. Four DPD officers and one DART officer were shot and killed at an anti-police brutality march. They were all transported to Baylor, but they never arrived alive.

"Kate, three more hours and we're out of here!"

Kate is drawn out of her thoughts when one of her friends calls to her from the exam room across from her.

"Kim, you sound like you're counting down to something special." She teased.

"Kate! Come on we've been waiting for this all month. Today is the day!"

"Kim, it's only Luke Bryan."

"ONLY LUKE BRYAN?" She shouted. "Kate he's the hottest, newest, most handsome country star out there!"

Just at that moment, Jess Martinez walked between them with supplies for the ER's crash cart. He looked at Kate and said,

"Kate let me guess she's rambling on about Luke Bryan, again isn't she?" He asked as he passed her.

"Yep Jess you could say that. But don't forget she belongs to the younger set. Us older folk need to stick together."

Jessie Martínez who just turned 35 had an edge over Kate by only three days. He was born on November 14th, 1983. Kate was born just three days later. He has been an ER nurse for Baylor since he graduated nursing school at the age of 22. He was one of Kate's closest male friends. Kim Santacruz had transferred into Baylor from Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City. She was going to turn 23 in about three and a half months from now. She has a heart of gold but had a hard time making critical choices when it came to patients, but she was working harder to be better in her decision making. And to round out her group of friends was Mackenzie "Kenzie" Reid. She was a spunky, short, blonde haired, spitfire who took on every case with the attitude that anything could be solved given the right information. She was going to be turning 28 next year. Each of them had their BSN degrees and were more than capable to handle anything. They are a great team of people to work with and Kate wouldn't trade them for anyone else.

"You can say that again Kate. What is the obsession with this Luke guy anyway?" Jess asked her.

"I'm not sure. He must be some kind of a hottie. I'm just going with Kim for moral support."

Kate finished with replacing the sheets on the stretcher after their last patient and walked over to the nurse's station where Kenzie was. She sat down next to her and updated the patient that she just discharged on the computer.

"So, are you and Greg going to the concert later tonight too?" Kate asked her friend.

"Kate, getting tickets to this thing has been next to impossible. It was sold out about four minutes after it was announced."

"You might be in luck Kenzie. I just so happen to have a pair of tickets for the concert that I won from 99.5 The Wolf that you might want."

"You have tickets? Spare tickets? Wait a minute there's no way you're going to give me tickets for tonight's show. There's got to be a catch somewhere."

"There's no catch. All I need from you is a body. A body to watch Eli for me so I can go to the concert too."

"That sounds like a catch to me Kate."

"Come on Kenzie I'm sure you can ask your sister if she's available tonight before you go to sleep this morning."

"Maybe. Where are these seats for tonight?" Kenzie asked.

Kate pulled out the tickets from her bag and told Kenzie the location.

"Row 4, seats 9 and 10. They look to be on the right side, aisle."

"Okay I'll ask Ann what she's doing tonight but I'm not guaranteeing anything. Is your fridge stocked?"

"Yes," Kate answered.

"Good. I'll call you before 8:30 so I won't disturb your beauty sleep with an answer."

"Thanks …." Before Kate could complete her sentence, a call came in over the radio.

"Baylor ER… this is Dallas Fire-Rescue 37…. Requesting the trauma team to be on standby in ER bay…. ETA 8 minutes…. Two car MVA first patient: unconscious at the scene, BP 117 over 78…. Respirations normal… Pupils responsive and dilated. Patient two: Multiple cuts and abrasions, broken femur, possible internal injuries…. BP 80 over 40… respirations are shallow… right pupil is blown."

"DFR 37 ensure lifesaving procedures are in place for patient two. Transport immediately. Monitor patient one and advise of any changes in route." Kenzie replied.

"Rodger. DFR 37 ETA 5 minutes out."

"Well, there goes our night. Jess get everything ready. Two patient MVA arriving in less than five minutes." Kate said.

Xx

By 7:35 am Kate wearily placed the key into the lock of her loft on 3333 Elm Street. She loved her loft for two reasons. First it was close to Baylor and second, it had more than enough room for her and her son Eli. Eli was the love of her life. She couldn't imagine her life without him in it he was just so precious. But every time she looked into his beautiful brown eyes she's reminded of his father. His father. She thinks back to when she first met Dr. Shaun Lockhart. He was a dedicated heart surgeon and he was in high demand and everybody wanted the best. There wasn't anything he wouldn't attempt to repair. And maybe that's what got him into the situation when he was in with Doctors Without Borders. It was his second time volunteering for the non-profit organization and they had sent him to one of the most dangerous spots on the planet, Somalia.

Of course, he being the doctor who thought he could always do everything, volunteered to make an emergency house call to a very sick child. As it turns out the child that died prior to his arrival. The child whose father was a Somali guerilla and held a high rank decided that somebody would pay for the death of his son. Dr. Lockhart was the one to pay that price. He never returned home from his last volunteer mission. She had received word about a month later that he had been killed. She, instead if welcoming him back to their loft, accepted a box with his personal effects contained within it from the State Department. It was what saddened her the most. The fact that he would never meet his son. She had just found out that she was pregnant a day after he had left.

Currently, her son is with his grandparents. She knows that it's a long-standing ritual between them that when she gets home from work she calls over to her parents' house to say goodnight to him before she goes to sleep. But since she has to wait for Kenzie to call she will make the trip to her parents' house in person. Kenzie will definitely call her on her cell phone after she talks to Ann if she can't reach her on the landline. She changes out of her blue scrubs and finds a pair of shorts and a plain white T-shirt to throw over her head. Her parent's house is only 10 minutes away from where she is in the ritzier part of Dallas as they like to call it. As soon as she locked up the front door she's back in her Ford Explorer heading over to her parents' house. When she pulls into the driveway she can see that the pitch back is still sitting on the front lawn. Her father was probably teaching Eli how to field baseballs as usual. She swears her father thinks he's going to be the next Nolan Ryan. She gets out of the Explorer and walks to their front door hesitating to knock not knowing if they're going to be awake or not. But she does anyway. Within seconds of her knock, he hears small feet running towards the front door. She knows it's Eli, so she gets down on his level before the door opens and waits. The look on his face is one she expects. She very rarely comes over after work and it will be a big surprise for him. The door opens and his eyes go comically wide.

"MOM!" He shouts.

"Hi, Eli! I have missed you so much!"

"Me too Mom I've missed you so much. Are you here for a little while or are you going to leave to get some sleep?" He said a little too excitedly.

"Actually I'm here for a little bit and then I'm going to head back home. But I will help you get ready for school how about that"

"That will be great! This way you can listen to Grandpa tell you that I'm getting so much better at playing catch with him."

"I bet you are. But you do know that there are other things in life that are more important than baseball? Right?"

"Aww come on Mom. Me and grandpa just went out in the front yard to throw the ball around. Although he does think I might be a good pitcher sometime in the future. He also said something about a guy named Nolan Ryan who was he?"

Kate just put her hand over her mouth to hide her giggle. She tried to keep it herself because she knows her son knows nothing about Nolan Ryan. It's going to be a shame to tell her father that he might be wasting his time.

"Katie what a surprise what brings you over here? Well other than the obvious?"

"Hey, Mom I just wanted to see Eli before he went to school. And I had some spare time."

"Busy shift last night?"

"Actually, it was pretty quiet until around 4:30 this morning. Then we had a two-car MVA which resulted in one fatality. 1 victim died before he got to the hospital."

"Oh, honey I'm so sorry."

"I know mom. But we did everything we could to bring him back."

"I know you did. God bless his soul."

Her cell phone started to ring and she pulled it out of her pocket to answer. It was Kenzie with good news. Ann could watch Eli tonight so she could go to the concert.

"Good news Katie?" Her mom asked.

"Yes. Ann will be watching Eli tonight so I can go to the Luke Bryan concert at the American Airlines Center."

"I'd tell him before you leave to go to sleep. And remember he's all yours this weekend. Your father and I are going to that vineyard I told you about. We'll be there until Sunday night."

"That's fine mom because I'm not back on shift until Monday night."

"Look at you with the whole weekend off. Any plans with Eli?"

"Don't tell him, but I have tickets to Sunday's Rangers game. They're playing the Orioles and it's Ted Williams 1st Rangers Manager Bobblehead day!"

"Good now he can add that one to his collection." Her father says as he steps into the kitchen.

"Good morning dad."

"Morning bug. How was the shift?"

"Busy. I think that I'll get Eli ready for school."

Kate walked back to where Eli was getting ready in his room.

"Jim, can't you see how tired she was?"

"What'd I say? I just wanted to know how her shift went that's all."

"She lost one last night. He died in a car accident."

"I didn't know Jo. I'm sorry. I will talk to her later."

"Yes, I think you should."

A/N: Updates will be on a weekly basis. More chapters could be possible if time and job allow it.


	2. Chapter 2

Some people live their dream,  
Some people close their eyes,  
Some people's destiny,  
Passes by.

Thre are no guarantees,  
There are no alibis,  
That's how our love must be,  
Don't ask why.

It takes some time,  
God knows how long,  
I know that I can forget you,  
As soon as my heart stops breaking,  
Anticipating...  
As soon as forever is through,  
I'll be over you.

Remembering times gone by,  
Promises we once made,  
What are the reasons why,  
Nothing stays the same.

There were the nights holding you close,  
Someday I'll try to forget them,  
As soon as my heart stops breaking,  
Anticipating...  
As soon as forever is through,  
I'll be over you.

I'll Be Over You by Toto

He sits in the home they bought together nine years ago, the house that they were supposed to grow old together in. Back when life was fun to live. But all too soon life hands you situations that you really don't want to face. He loosens the tie around his neck drops his head into his hands and quietly weeps...

Flashback...

The realtor had shown them the home in Lower Pacific Heights and other than the house where the show Full House was used as the home the family lived in on the TV show at 1709 Broderick street, there was not much they liked about the house that sat down the block from the TV show house. His wife had an obsession with living close to this house, why, he could never understand.

But the Full House house had been turned into a tourist attraction since the show ended. There were comings and goings all hours of the day and night so they decided to look elsewhere due to the constant noise and fans trying to see the house.

So he and Emily decided to look in another part of San Francisco. It didn't take the realtor long to show them a home in Pacific Heights.

2546 Jackson Street in Pacific Heights a suburb of San Francisco was everything they could ever dream of owning. It had one bedroom on the ground floor and two bedrooms on the second floor. There is a very narrow driveway for them to park the only car they owned and it was big enough for their new coming addition to the family. Plus, there was a park across the street that would give their new baby a place to play once she got older.

Together they had big plans for their daughter when she came into the world they wanted to give her everything they never had. What they wanted to do was spoil her. Things were looking up for them on the career front. Emily had landed a new job in the financial district which wasn't far from their new home. Rick who had trained with the best chefs in Spain, France, and Italy was snatched up by a new restaurant in the heart of waterfront. The restaurant he works at now is called Gary Danko's. He had been putting himself out there to local restaurants in the area and was getting nowhere until one day Gary who was the owner of Gary Danko's was having lunch with another restaurant owner who Rick had interviewed with. While they were talking Paul, the owner of Seven Hills restaurant had told him about a chef who he interviewed as a second line chef for his place. Gary was intrigued, to say the least. It just so happens that his head chef had decided that the grass was greener at another restaurant and just quit with only one week's notice. Gary was in desperate need of a new head chef. So, since Paul had interviewed this chef as a second line chef Gary asked if he could interview him himself for the vacancy he needed to fill. Paul who had no claim on Rick to work for him gave him Rick's number. This is how they became best friends.

Rick had interviewed with Gary and he liked the kitchen set up he did not need to change that much to make it better to his liking. They had decided that a percentage of the profits would be his pay while he was there. Rick created just about everything there was to create. If he could buy food at the market he made something of it. His specialty was glazed oysters and risotto. He gravitated more towards seafood because there was so much more a person could do with fresh fish than meat.

Nine years have passed since they purchase their house and Rick has been working for Gary. Emily had a baby girl who they named Alexis shortly after they moved in. She was a very precocious little girl. She did listen to her parents but when they weren't looking she tried to figure out everything on her own. She took her first steps before she was 9 months old, cut her first tooth at 7 months, and said her first word at a year old. She was their world, everything revolved around her.

Then the unthinkable happened. Rick was working late one night and had just about finished with the dinner rush when he got a call from his wife saying that she was going to be late getting home that night and that she would pick up Alexis from aftercare later than usual. He insisted that instead of her going to pick up Alexis he would take time off from the bistro and go get her himself. She had told him that he still had to finish up his last seating for the night and that it wouldn't be that much of a problem for her to pick up Alexis. So, he agreed. Hanging up the phone, it would be the last time he ever talked to his wife.

Emily finished up the last of her paperwork shut down her computer and locked up her office and headed out to aftercare to pick up Alexis it was almost 6 pm by the time she arrived. Since they lived close to the care center it was a quick walk back home. The staff had waited patiently for her to get there since Alexis was the last one to be picked up. Emily walked across the street to the care center and explained that she was sorry for getting there so late. The staff waved her off saying that it was okay and they understood that people have hectic lives at times.

Making sure that they had everything Emily and Alexis walked out of the center and started talking about her day at school. She told her mom that the teacher gave them a new book to read, but Alexis loved to read and told her mom that she read that book months ago.

San Francisco is known for its steep hills and winding streets. When Emily and Alexis stopped at the curb to cross the street, it was clear of cars traveling in either direction. As Emily looked down at Alexis while she was describing what her friend was going to do when she went away for the weekend, Emily became distracted and never saw the newly licensed driver having trouble negotiating the hill she was driving down. The car picked up more speed than the new driver could handle and by the time Emily realized that they were in danger, the car was just about on top of them. So close that Emily could see the terrified look on the drivers face. She needed to act quickly and Emily, who knew that her daughter meant more than her own life, picked her up under her armpits and threw her across to the opposite sidewalk from where she was in the middle of the street.

Alexis would never know the sacrifice that her mother made for her. She landed on the hood of a parked car and rolled off it and onto the sidewalk bruising her hip and shoulder and hitting her head on the sidewalk. By the time she got up from where she landed, she could hear the driver of the car screaming and crying at the scene laid out before her.

The driver never left the scene after she hit the woman walking across the street with the little girl. The SFPD and an ambulance responded, but by the time the ambulance left, it left without sounding its siren or the flashing of its lights. A bad sign.

Rick was just finishing up serving the last patron and was cleaning up the remnants of his mess in the kitchen when he saw Gary walking through the double doors that led to the kitchen. He smiled up at him and wondered why he was back here in the first place since he never enters the kitchen while he is working it never happened. But then when he notices the SFPD uniformed officer and a plainclothes cop right behind him waiting at the door.

"Gary? What's happening here?" Rick asked as his eyes darted between his boss and the cops.

"Rick there has been an event."

"What kind of event Gary? You better tell me before I tear you apart!" Rick started to move towards Gary with his face turning blood red but stopped when he noticed Alexis in the arms of the aftercare worker behind the plainclothes cop. The uniformed cop pulled his notepad from his shirt pocket and started to speak.

"Mr. Rodgers at 6:20 pm this evening a driver lost control of her vehicle due to a mechanical failure while traveling down the 2700 block of Pacific Avenue. Your wife Emily made the ultimate sacrifice by giving her life to save your daughter's life. From a running motion, she picked up and threw your daughter onto the hood of a parked car. She then took the brunt of the hit from the out of control car. That impact sent her forward into the rear window of another parked car. Mr. Rodgers your wife felt no pain. I am so sorry."

Rick's eyes started to water up and his throat constricted beyond his control. Soon after hearing the news, the aftercare worker, Rose, he thinks her name was, gave him Alexis. That's when he hugged her within an inch of her life and the tears just fell and fell. They both cried for what seemed to be hours. When Gary came closer to them he placed a comforting hand on Rick's shoulder and said,

"Rick, take all the time you need. I can get Manny to cover your spot while you sort things out."

Rick just walked blindly out of the kitchen, through the dining room and out to his car. He never remembered belting in Alexis or in reality, driving home that evening.

Present day...

He sits there in the living room still in his black suit wondering what he will do next. The funeral this morning was heartbreaking for the both of them because they never wanted to say goodbye. Alexis even as young as she was, was the one to place two red roses on her coffin because Rick could not be the one to say the word goodbye to his wife and the love of his life. San Francisco was a place where he wanted to start his life then, but now sadly he lost the one person who he wanted to do that with. Maybe a change is what he needed now…


	3. Chapter 3

Four weeks later…

He was going to be hurt when he did this to him but he could see no other way to get past his grief. Since the funeral, he has been in a total fog. He was now a single parent and he had no idea how to facilitate that and keep a household afloat. He wanted to ask Alexis what she thought about his idea, but he could not add to her grief and sorrow. She was only 9 and he did not want to have her deciding something this serious at her age. Her thoughts would be enough.

"Alexis, can you come down here? I need to talk to you for a second."

"Dad is something wrong?"

"No sweetie there is nothing wrong. I just want to ask you a couple of questions that's all."

"Okay, I'm coming dad."

Alexis put her diary back. It's something that she has been keeping for about a year now. Her mom gave it to her for her eighth birthday and she puts her thoughts in it when she thinks about a funny moment or what a friend said to her at school or even something about her mom that she remembers. It is all she has to remember her by.

"What do you need dad?" She asked.

"Come over here and sit down next to me."

Alexis did. She looked into his eyes and must have guessed that what he wanted to ask her was serious so she waited for him to talk.

"Listen pumpkin, we've been through a lot in the last four weeks without mom. We will never forget what she was to us, but I can't stay here in San Francisco any longer."

"Dad what about Gary and the restaurant. You love cooking. Why would you leave especially since Gary has been so understanding about Mom passing away? He has given you so much time off."

"Honey, it's not that I don't like Gary or the restaurant its quite the opposite. It's the fact that I just can't be here in this city. This city where your mother died not far from where we live. We need a fresh start somewhere where we can put down roots and start over."

"Dad what about my friends?" Alexis asked.

"You can make new friends."

"But I like my school."

"Honey, you'll be at a new school. Listen I know that this will upset your life and for that, I am so sorry. But baby, our life as we know it has changed. The way things were are no longer the same. Everything is different now. We need a new start somewhere away from here.

"What will you do?"

"I'm going to do what I always do. I just think that maybe until I get on my feet I will find some place to work at first. Once I get my feet wet again I'm thinking about opening up my own place."

"Dad I'm not too sure about that. Doesn't take a lot of money to start your own restaurant?"

His daughter. If he was not the adult here, she would be the one to worry about every single thing.

"Alexis, you are right it will take a lot of money to get a new restaurant off the ground. But even though you are young there are ways to get money that can get a restaurant up off the ground. Investors who want to see the restaurant do well will invest their money into what I can offer. I just don't know where to do that yet. As I told you San Francisco is not a place I'd like to stay at anymore. It's just too painful to be here where your mother died."

"I guess I can see why you wouldn't want to stay here any more Daddy. But do you have an idea of where you might want to go?"

"What do you think about Seattle? It's not that far from San Francisco."

Alexis made a scrunched up face as she looked at her dad.

"Daddy, it's raining there like all the time who wants to live there? Does the sun ever come out?"

"Well you're right about it raining a lot but the sun does come out but by the look on your face, maybe Seattle is not such a great place to go to. Alright I will do some research and we will talk again but I am sorry about you losing your friends Alexis. I'm sure that you will make new ones wherever we end up next.

"I know Daddy I'll be sad for a little bit but then I'll make new friends."

Rick felt sorry for his daughter. She was always so full of life and could see the bright side to any negative situation. But he thought she might not make it through the loss of her mother. This is why he wants to move away from here. Sure, she was a child and bouncing back would be easier for her but he was just devastated that he lost his best friend and lover.

Knowing that Seattle was out of the question he went back to the drawing board to do more research. It's then when he heard his little girl telling him she had homework to do and after that was going to sleep.

"Dad I just have one assignment I have to take care of for school and after that, I'm going to go to bed," Alexis told him.

"Okay pumpkin. I'll be down here for a little bit longer but I promise to go to bed soon."

"Dad I know you. You'll stay up for hours. So, set the timer on your phone for one hour to remind yourself to go to bed."

"I will baby. Good night."

"Night dad."

He watched her as she walked to her bedroom and closed the door. He felt sad for her because he knew that mothers and daughters have a stronger bond than daughters and their fathers did.

He swipes at it for the third time silencing the annoying device. Yes, he set it for an hour but it's actually 3 hours later. It's a little after 3 a.m. and he thinks he's found a location that might work once he tells Alexis what it is. He really wants her to be a part of this decision. He totally gave up on the East Coast. New York was to hustle and bustle and the people aren't that friendly there. He struck out Chicago because the food there is comparable to what New York offers and he's done that before. No, what he wants is something fresh, something that is hopefully close to the water so seafood is in abundance and he has it narrowed down to two cities in Texas. Houston, or Dallas. He has to start really going through each city's housing rental availability before he commits to anything. He has decided that with Emily's life insurance policy, some of which he used to bury her with he will sell the house here pay off the mortgage and hopefully have $100 to $150,000.00 left over from the sale of his house and the balance of the life insurance policy. So tomorrow he will need to search for real estate.

He hears her as she walks up to the side of his bed. He didn't get to bed until 3:15 this morning and as he opens his eyes that don't want to cooperate he sees that it's 7:22. He can't imagine why his daughter would be waking him up so early.

"Dad come on you need to get out of bed. I need breakfast something to eat you know?"

"Alexis it's a Saturday honey why are you in my bedroom waking me up?"

"Dad you really need to get a grip. Today is Thursday and I have to be at school in less than 40 minutes so can you please get out of bed and bring me to school. I have a test second period that I can't miss."

God, it's too early in the morning for this. And on top of that, his daughter is already planning her day out way too far in advance for his liking.

"Alexis give me three minutes and I'll be ready to make you some breakfast. And then I will drive you to school." He said as he yawns.

He wants to tell her about the two cities he looked into last night in Texas. But he can tell that later because she will want to have a longer conversation about it so he will wait until she gets home from school. Maybe by then, he can find a place to live temporarily. He quickly makes her pancakes and adds chocolate chips in the shape of a smiley face. She, in turn, smiles back at him when he places it in front of her.

"Thanks, Daddy."

"Anything for you pumpkin."

Since she's already dressed for school Rick runs back to his bedroom, throws on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and drives her to school. By the time he gets back home he showers and starts his search on the laptop for properties in both Dallas and Houston. He hasn't made up his mind yet but he wants to get a solid idea on which one they could possibly live in.


	4. Chapter 4

They had so much fun at the Rangers home game a month ago that they ended up going to four more home games together. Eli actually talked his grandparents into coming with them to one game. Kate thought that they would never agree to it but they had and it ended up being one of the best nights of their lives. Her dad loved baseball and her parents spoiled Eli with just about every souvenir you could buy that night and Texas won!

The ER had been busy during the last month. More so than usual. There was a rise in drug overdoses and attempted suicides and the moon was nowhere near full. While most of the people made it to the morgue all of them came through the ER to be treated by Kate and her team. It was the one thing that bothers her a little bit because once they were done treating these people who decided they were better off dead that was the end of her interaction with them. Once they were in the psych unit or into drug rehab they were left to their own decisions on how to proceed with their life. Sure every once and a while the doctors that treated these patients would make a comment in passing about how they were doing but for the most part, they were not informed about their care after they left.

While she finished up the paperwork on her last patient she sees the ambulance pull up to the bay and then it backs in. This is odd because the crew never called in an emergency to the base. When she gets up from the charting desk she moves quickly towards the ambulance bay and sees both EMTs inside the rig working to get their patient ready for entry into the ER and then by the time the security guard opened up the back doors she is there to meet them. Both rush out relaying stats to her as they enter the ER.

"38-year-old male, motorcyclist versus pick up, head on, no helmet. BP 50 over 20. Respiration shallow, both pupils are blown." Says the first EMT.

"What the hell is that sticking out if his leg?" Kate asked as they rolled the man into the ER.

"As far as we can tell, it might be part of the guardrail support. It broke off when DPD responded by trying to pull him out of the blast area." The other EMT reported.

"Blast area?" Kate asked with confusion.

"Yeah, the tank on the bike split open, ignited, and blew up. But the cops got him clear of the bike right before it blew due to the quick thinking of the patrolman who had pulled him out from under the bike."

They moved the patient to the trauma room and started a work up on him. Jessie attached the leads for the heart monitor, EEG and defibrillator. Kim rechecked his pupils and came away with the same result while Kenzie wrapped the BP cuff around his arm and took his pulse.

"Kate, TBI," Jessie said sadly looking at the man on the bed.

"I know. He's just an organ donor now."

"There's nothing we can do. But the doc will need to come down and confirm what we already know. See if he has a donor card. If he does then we can notify next of kin and ask them to come down."

"Okay. Who's on call tonight?" Kenzie asks.

"It's Cohen," Kate answered.

"Well at least he's one of the good ones," Kim added.

Just as Kim finished her statement the man in question entered the trauma room.

"Ladies, good morning. What have we got?" Dr. Cohen asked.

"Hi, Dr. Cohen. It's good to see you again." Kim said.

"Male, 38, motorcycle versus car. Both pupils are blown traumatic brain injury. Right now, resting comfortably while next of kin is informed. No brain activity on the EEG and he has a donor card." Kate gave him the rundown of her patient.

"So now it's just a waiting game. I won't even bother addressing whatever that is stuck in his leg until he passes. But I'll do it before the next of kin arrive." Dr. Cohen said.

Dr. Cohen turns to the foot of the bed lifts up the chart to add his notes to it and places it back down. He gives a silent nod to Kate to make sure that the patient is kept comfortable until he dies. Then he left the room.

She has seen accidents like this happened in the past and they never end well. Most are paraplegic, and some are quadriplegics, which is sad in itself but these cases that she has to deal with are the worst. With no brain activity, she knows it's only a matter of time before everything else starts shutting down on this man. He will stop breathing, his lungs will fail to fill with oxygen, and then without oxygen to his brain, it will permanently shut down. The next to go will be his heart. But if they plan it right they will have an organ donor team in place to harvest what they can making sure that other people will benefit from what this man can give them.

20 minutes later Kate hears the flatline tone sounding. Looking up at the monitor she sees a solid line across the screen knowing that all life functions have ceased for this man. What will happen now will be quick since his next of kin did not arrive in time and he does have a donor card on the back of his driver's license, his organs will be harvested and teams will be called to retrieve them. This man will give help to 8 total strangers. His heart, lungs, eyes, kidney, liver, and even his skin that is not damaged. She turns off the alarm disconnects the leads from the heart monitor and the defibrillator and pulls the sheet over his head. The harvest team that was waiting out in the nursing station is quick to move into moving him to the OR so they can get him on heart bypass to keep his heart viable.

Xx

When her shift ends their biker is still in the OR. Teams from as far away as Las Vegas have come and gone already. When she left they were waiting for the last team to arrive from Chicago Mercy for his heart.

Her phone rings just as she pulls into the parking lot of her complex.

"Hello."

"Kate it's me and Kenzie you're on speaker with us. We wanted to know if you want to come out with us this morning for a drink?" Kjm asked.

"You do know it's almost 8 am, right?"

"Yeah but you know that they'll let us in. And honey you know that we need a drink after tonight."

She thinks back to the last time they asked her to go out. They are younger than she is and have more stamina but she could swear she hears Kim giggling along with Kenzie once they ask their question. She doesn't really want to go but if she doesn't they'll start talking about her and God forbid that should happen.

"Where?"

"Louie's"

When?

"Say in about two hours?"

"One. Drink. Only." Kate says determinedly.

"Great we'll meet you there." They say as they end the call still giggling.

What did I get myself into now? Kate thinks to herself as she enters her loft to get changed.

Xx

She has no willpower whatsoever. She never did with these two. One drink led to another and then another and still yet another until she needed to have the bartender call her an Uber to get her back home. She had had the foresight to take a cab to Louie's instead of driving and now since she only had less than eight hours to go back to work she really needed to get some sleep. After her shift, she had wanted to sleep, wake up, and go to her mom's house to see Eli. Maybe help him with his homework. She should have never agreed to go out with these two on a work night. She falls into her bed still fully clothed. Setting the alarm for 10 pm she is out in seconds.

Swatting at the alarm as it shrieks the alarm clock falls off the nightstand. She looks at her phone on the charger and sees that its 9:59 pm. Slowly getting out of the bed she has about 35 minutes to get a shower, get dressed find something to eat and get to work. She really hates the two of them right about now. She hopes that tonight is a quiet one and there is nothing to do other than restock supplies in the trauma rooms and the occasional patient transport from the ER to radiology.

When she gets to work that night it's Jessie that takes pity on her and she is so thankful for him. He gives her the option of performing the monthly inventory of the meds or cleaning the trauma rooms. But if there is a patient coming in then everything stops until the patient is taken care of. The entire shift surprisingly has no incoming traumas.

She goes home once more and her plan is to sleep for at least 10 hours. She will ask her mom and dad over for dinner tonight since she has this weekend off she thinks as she stands in the express line at the Central Market with enough food to feed an army. She can't wait to see her son. Other than a couple of minutes on Tuesday when she last saw him, she has only talked to him every morning before he left for school. She wants tonight to go well so she decided that they would all eat outside on the deck that is close to her loft. She'd grill the steaks and burgers, have a salad and maybe ice cream for dessert. Before she goes to sleep she makes a simple marinade for the streaks that will give them a robust southwestern taste and puts them back in the refrigerator. Then it's off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

He knew that Gary would be upset when he told him of his decision to leave San Francisco. He also knows that he'd need to find a head chef quickly to replace him. Manny would be a temporary fix at best. But it seems that in the last 30 days Gary has made it his mission to pile everything onto him that has nothing to do with cooking food. He made him follow the fire inspector around for 2 hours checking out the kitchen when he should have been at the fish market picking up the fresh fish and seafood for dinner that night. And when he was late returning from the market he was also late making the first order for the demanding customer Gary was friends with. Gary was not pleased. Rick was caught in a catch 22. No matter what he did he still couldn't keep up with the orders due to the fact that he had nothing to cook. Seeing Gary walking into the kitchen Rick decided to confront him right here and now.

"Gary you need to stop this childish bullshit. Let me do my job and COOK! It's what you pay me to do!"

"Don't you dare raise your voice to me, Rick. I gave you everything. You had a kitchen that was outfitted with the best of everything a chef could ever want. I spared no expense to make sure that you'd be happy had everything."

"And I was happy here Gary. But now it's time to move on. It happens, you know, when people aren't happy where they currently are so they try to make their lives better by moving to a different city. And I'm sorry that you think I can just forget about Emily and keep working for you, but I can't. She was a part of my soul just like your wife is to you. Alexis and I both need a fresh start, Gary. I'm sorry that it's going to cause you problems with your business but I don't see any another way."

"There's no way I can change your mind, Rick? Your name is synonymous with the food that comes out of this kitchen. People flock to this restaurant to taste what you create. When people find out that you've left business will drop off." Gary pleaded.

"That's true Gary it will drop off to start with. But the person you get in here next will create his own dishes and add his own touch to them and that will put you back on the map again. And it's not really like you've never left the map you're just changing up how the food is prepared and by who. Now, are we still on for the next interviewee?" Rick asked.

"Yes, we are. She should be here in 2 hours. I just hope that she is as competent and creative as you are."

"Don't worry Gary I'll make sure that she has the skills needed to be at the level I am or better I hope."

Xx

Rick had done research into where they were going to move. And every time he came up with a new city that would interest Alexis, he asked her to do her own research on the city to see if it was a city that interested her. So far, he's batting zero. Even though his daughter was 9 going on 10 she kept him on his toes.

"Dad why are we limited to everything West of the Mississippi? What's wrong with either New York or Boston? They both have great seafood, right?"

"Alexis, have you ever seen snow? It's a great thing to look at, but being cold and driving in it are two different things that we really don't need to deal with. It's not that I don't like New York or Boston for that matter, but I just can't wrap my head around dealing with all the weather-related issues that will keep us from living our lives the way we want to."

"Okay, Dad so far you've given me Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and a whole bunch of other cities in between that I really didn't like. What do you have now?"

"Alright, pumpkin I have two more for you to look up. The first one is Houston which is not that bad but I'm not really that hopeful about. And the second one is Dallas. Of the two Dallas shows us or I should say shows me the city with the most promise. You would have to research it and tell me what you think when you do."

"Okay, Dad."

A full minute had gone by and Alexis was still sitting at the table across from him just watching him.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" He asked her

"Dad, what you mean what am I waiting for?"

"Alexis, you need to do research in order to see this is where you want to move right?"

"Yeah but I'm not going to do it right now dad. I was going to do it over the course of a couple of days."

He really thought Alexis would be jumping at the chance to find out what Dallas and Houston have to offer. It's not that he didn't want to be here any longer but he really didn't. Maybe she would have an answer for him in a couple of days but in his mind, he had his heart set on Dallas. He thinks that the people are friendlier, there is a lot more to do there socially and he knows that real estate is pretty affordable there.

"All right Dad I'll look into the both of them. But don't be surprised if I don't like either of them." Alexis said in a huff.

As she got up from the table her father had never thought that she had already researched the major cities in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas but she had. She knew that he was going to select somewhere in the state of Texas she just didn't know where. So, she took the five major cities and researched all of them. She researched Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin. She had settled on either San Antonio or Dallas as her pick for the city and she would want to live in. She would drag it out for maybe a day or two and then tell him what she had decided on making him sweat it out a little.

Xx

Life sometimes sends you signs that you never really expected. The realtor who had sold them this house 9 years ago was the one who listed it at the beginning of the month. He had a prospective customer come in and take a look around on the third day it was listed on the realtor's site. The people who were interested in the house were a young couple. In a way, it almost reminded him of himself and Emily at that age thinking that they could take on the world. The couple had made an offer the next day for only $5,000 less than the asking price. He didn't take long to give them an answer and agreed to sell the house to them at their offer and not to counter offer them. With the sale of the house and after the banknote was paid in full and Emily's life insurance policy check had arrived, Rick would have no problem purchasing a house in whatever city they move to next. It's a little easier knowing that you have one less thing to worry about when you move.

Rick gets up early enough to make Alexis breakfast. On the way down the stairs after his shower, he wonders if she has done any research for the city she wants to live in. He could be a strict father and demand that they moved to the city that he selects, but he wants her to have a choice where she moved to. It's only fair but he just hopes that she picks Dallas.

Xx

The last walk-through inspection of their home in San Francisco is done 5 days after Alexis gave him her choice of the two cities she would want to live in. Without any coaxing from him, she had selected Dallas. The Ryder truck is loaded almost to capacity. It's a large truck, one that they can both ride in and in two and a half days if everything goes all right they'll be pulling into Dallas. He has a hotel for a week before he nails down a place to stay permanently. If he plans it right he can get Alexis into school during her two-week break from school in San Francisco. This way she can accompany him to look for houses that they might want to buy. The drive is long and tedious they almost ran out of gas once near Arispe Texas, but were able to get to the gas station before they actually ran out of gas. Dallas is everything they expected it would be. The people are friendly, there are plenty of places where he can work as a chef. But his priority is getting Alexis into school and finding a place to live. He has 2 days once he's in Dallas to return the Ryder truck. He was smart enough to pull his car behind the truck and the only thing he needs now is a ride back from the Ryder rental location to the hotel. And then he can start looking for a place to live. The job market looks to be bountiful so he concentrates on housing in an area north of Dallas first, and enrolling Alexis in a school second.


	6. Chapter 6

He'd seen better houses in San Francisco. Alexis quickly became disappointed at what was available to live in here in Dallas. But the realtor promised them that they could find something acceptable within their time frame. But Rick had to find a place quickly. He couldn't enroll Alexis in the school district until he had an address to give them. And he couldn't unload the truck into the new house yet, so he had to rent a storage unit. The first Saturday that they were there and he realized that they weren't going to find something right away and had decided to rent a storage unit and put all their belongings other than clothes in it. He has the directions for Public Storage on Swiss street and they arrive around 11 am. After all the paperwork is filled out Rick and Alexis drive into the facility and find their storage unit. It's on the ground floor which will make unloading a lot easier. The rate was good as well. A dollar for the first thirty days and $115.00 for each month after that. He was fortunate enough to rent a Ryder truck that had a liftgate on the back. It made it easier taking off the living room furniture, the washer and dryer, and the bed mattresses.

"Dad is that the last box?"

"No Alexis, there are about 10 more near the front of the truck. I'll slide them to the back and then you can slide them into the storage unit."

"I'll use the cart." Alexis struggled with boxes that were a little heavier than herself but she was able to move 7 of the 10 boxes in on her own.

"Alexis this is great! We have a lot more room than I thought we would." Rick said as he took in what she had done with the 8 x 19-foot space.

They had everything off the truck and needed to get to the Ryder rental office in less than an hour. He backed up the truck and turned around across from his new rental unit and headed for the exit. When he cleared the electronic gate, he stopped at the stop sign not knowing which way to go. He looked at Alexis who only simply shrugged her shoulders because she was just as lost as he was. Deciding not to stay in the parking lot anymore he pulls out onto Swiss Avenue and turns right. Somehow, he remembers Oak Street and turns right. After stopping at the stop sign at Gaston Ave nothing looks familiar to either of them anymore. He turns left onto Gaston and slowly moves down the street. Luckily there's nobody behind him so he can go slow being it's so early on a Saturday morning. But by the time he reaches Hall Street he sees ahead of them that there are pedestrian bridges crossing the road that this truck would not fit under. He doesn't want to take the chance of damaging either the truck or the bridges so he turns right onto Hall Street.

"Pumpkin, those bridges look too low for this truck to fit under so we're going to take this street down until we get out of here," Rick explains to Alexis.

"Okay, Daddy."

Rick drives down Hall Street and passes the Texas A&M College of Dentistry then he sees a very tall building that has to be a hospital. Somehow, he's wandered into a medical complex and he just needs to get out of here before he causes any damage to anything else. It looks like it's clear sailing down to the entrance to I-35 he hopes.

Xx

She's exhausted, she's tired, and she can't wait to get home to see her son. It's been a long Friday night and even though it was quiet they still had their share of emergencies to deal with. Nothing major it was just cases that needed a personal touch. A husband fell off a ladder while trying to fix his roof and ended up only breaking his arm but to be safe X-rays and a cast were needed. Jesse had a child come in and complain that her throat was hurting her. She ended up having tonsillitis and was scheduled for surgery the next morning. Kim and Kenzie decided that everything should be replenished in the ER so that was their task for the night.

She walks to her locker opens it, takes out her purse, hangs her sweater on the hook inside and relocks her locker. She turns and heads back towards the trauma rooms saying goodbye to Kim, Kenzie, and Jessie getting the same in return. Once outside past the double doors she sees a large white Ryder truck lumbering slowly down the street. The operator of the truck seeing her standing in the crosswalk stops to let her cross safely. When she does cross she gives a wave to the child with the red hair and she waves back. She gets to her car opens it up tosses her bag on the front seat and gets in. Starting the car she's quick to back up and pull out of the parking lot. As she gets to the parking lot 19's exit, the slow-moving Ryder truck has just passed her. When she turned right she is directly behind the slow-moving truck. When she sees the four way lights being activated and flashing brightly she knows that whoever is driving the truck is lost. She can't pass on the double line so she follows behind the excruciatingly slow-moving truck. She can see the light up ahead at the corner of Hall and Elm and the light is green, but the operator of the truck stops on the green light unsure which way he wants to go. She wants to blow her horn to get him to move but she figures that might scare him a little so being that there is practically no traffic coming up Hall Street towards her, she puts on her own four ways puts her car in park and gets out.

Xx

The second he sees the car door swing open he knew she was not happy with him. What he saw coming towards him was a woman who was at the end of her rope dressed in blue hospital scrubs.

"Pumpkin, it might get a bit scary in a minute or two so just let me do all the talking okay?"

"Why Daddy? We're only trying to get back to where the truck goes. Why would you need to be doing the talking at the intersection?"

Rick looked over to Alexis and was about to start explaining when he heard a knock on the side of the door. He turns to his left and looks down and sees her with her arms crossed across her chest. She's a short little thing he'll give her that. But he rolls the window down as she climbs up on the running board holding onto the mirror and the door handle.

"Howdy, Y'all! How are you doing?" The stranger asked.

Rick turns and looks at Alexis not believing what he's hearing. "Y'all?" who uses that anymore? But all he can see is Alexis's smile.

"Actually we're both doing fine ma'am, how are you?" Rick replies.

"Oh, there's no need to be so formal sir you can call me Kate instead of ma'am. So, I don't know where you're from, but in the great state of Texas when a traffic light is green we usually drive through it and not stop on it. Kate said with the start of a small smile forming on her face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Kate. It's just that I'm trying to return this truck and I know I made a wrong turn coming out of the storage area. By the way, I'm Rick and this is Alexis, my daughter."

She really wanted to go home after a long night but he looked like he was really lost. And she knows exactly which Ryder facility he needs to go to.

"I really should be getting home but how about if I let you follow me to the Ryder facility that you need to go to? It's just a little north of West Dallas about 7.5 miles away from here. And then I can give you a lift back home because honestly you seem like two decent people and that's what people here in Texas do. We help people."

"I don't know what to say other than thank you very much," Rick said.

Kate hops down off the side of the truck and starts walking back to her car. She gets in and pulls around the Ryder truck and waves as she passes him to follow her through the green light. She turns right onto Elm Street and goes all the way down to another Street he can't catch the name of and soon they are on the ramp that leads to Route 366 West. Once they travel on that for about a mile and a half there on the entrance ramp for I-35 East heading north. They drive on that for about four and a half miles and he sees Kate exiting at 432 B. They come off the ramp and turn left at the traffic light onto Route 356 and then they make a right on Iron Ridge Street and a left on Halifax Street and in less than 30 seconds they're pulling into the Ryder truck rental facility. Kate pulls into the office area and parks while Rick drives past her and into the rental area for trucks. As he parks the truck a representative meets him as he gets out of the truck with a clipboard and paperwork to check in his rental. Once all the paperwork is complete and he is free Rick is walking with Alexis back to the front parking lot where he sees Kate leaning up against her Explorer.

"See I told you it wasn't that far away from where you were so you weren't really that lost," Kate said.

"Kate, I might have never found this place it's impossible to know the area after only being here for two days," Rick complained.

"So if you don't mind telling me, where are y'all from?"

Alexis was the one to handle the answer to that question so she jumped up and said, "San Francisco!"

"I see. West Coasters. That explains a lot."

"Yes, ma'am West coasters born and bred. Do you have an issue with us being from the West coast?"

"No, not at all. Just happy to have someone seeing the light that's all."

"The light?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah you know, when you see what you've been missing all along. That's why you moved here to Texas right?"

"Well we were looking for a change, so I guess you're right."

"So Kate where are you from?" Alexis asked.

"Well, I was born here in Texas. Spent all my life here."

"Oh," Alexis said.

"Alexis is it?" Kate asked. When she saw the girl nod she started again.

"People who live in Texas are proud of the state they live in. I'll bet it's a lot like where you and dad are from in San Francisco. You are very proud to be from there just like we are proud of Texas." Kate explained.

Rick knew that would only be a matter of seconds before it happened. And he was right. Alexis looked at him and he picked her up and held her tight.

"Rick is everything okay?" Kate asked not knowing what she did wrong.

"It's a long story, Kate. But I'd appreciate that ride back to where we are staying if you are still offering."

"Okay. Where would that be?"

"The Crowne Plaza in downtown Dallas."

"I know where that is. Come on let's go."

Kate, Rick, and Alexis are soon off to the hotel that they are staying at. Most of the way back Kate keeps looking over to Rick wanting to know what it was that she said wrong. By the time they pulled up to the hotel, Rick gave her his thanks and opened the door to get out.

"Rick, I hope to see you around Dallas sometime."

"Maybe Kate. But If not thanks for all your help."


	7. Chapter 7

There was something she was just not seeing with the man she met and helped. His little girl looked like she had just lost her best friend. She just left them at the Crown Plaza hoping that they could work out whatever was hurting them. Call it a premonition or just a plain old vibe, but she could tell that they were both in need of someone who could help them. Whatever it was, it went deep within the both of them. She still thinks about them and she enters the on-ramp for I-35 East southbound. There are certain things in life that you take for granted. What Kate witnessed was nothing of the sort. Alexis seems to depend on her father and Rick depends on his daughter. They are like two peas in a pod and they keep themselves together emotionally by reassuring each other. She gets off at Elm Street from I-35 and turns left onto Hall street and is just about where she rescued Rick and Alexis an hour before. The light is red and she stops at the stop line. While she's waiting for the light to turn green she thinks about the shift she just completed and thankfully has the next two days off. When the light turns green an impatient beep from the car behind her blows their horn in aggravation because she's still sitting there daydreaming on a green light, how ironic is that? She releases the brake and steps on the gas and soon she is coming up to a Dallas Fire Department pumper sitting across Elm street that she needs to go around in order to get home. She tries to pull into the area and sees a firefighter in full turnout gear standing near the control panel of the truck. Before she can move forward he is coming over to her side of the Explorer.

"Whoa, there little lady. It seems that you won't be able to move forward due to the fire that's ahead." The Dallas firefighter told her who was manning the pumper.

Kate who was still dressed in her scrubs decided to use her position to get more information from the firefighter who was just about to turn and walk back to the pumper.

"Sir? I just need to get home because I just came off a very long 12-hour shift and sleep is the only thing I would like to do right now."

"I'm sorry ma'am but the street is blocked off due to the fire that's down the street. It is a working fire and I'm not too sure that there will be an end to this anytime soon. So your sleep will need to be done elsewhere."

Kate who always wanted to know what was going on around her asked the firefighter where the fire was. He was very forthcoming with the information she needed.

"That's simple ma'am the fire is at 3333 Elm Street. It seems that somebody had decided to have a barbecue outside on the deck. But they had used too much lighter fluid on the charcoal in the grill, left it unattended and set the whole complex ablaze. This is why I am here manning this pumper on a 104⁰ day."

Kate's face went ashen white because all she could think about were the people in the building. Coming out of her thoughts it hit her that this was where she lived.

"That's my home! How bad is it?" Kate asked hoping it was not that bad.

"Ma'am it looks like they will probably be able to save the foundation." The firefighter snickered as he walked away knowing that there would be nothing left of the complex.

"So, there's a chance that I can get back to my loft?" Kate asked her hope rising.

"Listen, ma'am, the building is a total loss. There will be nothing to go back to. I'm sorry." He shouted over his shoulder as he walked back towards his fire truck.

"But…" Kate watched as the flames rose over the top of what was once her roof. She knew that Reggie the airhead was the one who had wanted to bar-b-que on the deck yesterday and watch the Mavericks game on TNT. He had to be the one who caused this even if it was an accident.

Xx

Two hours later and she is no closer to getting back to her loft. She is glad about one small miracle, her son was not in the loft when this happened. From what she can see there is nothing left of the structure she used to call her home. Since the initial confrontation with the firefighter over 2 hours ago she had been sitting in her Explorer since then off to the side of the road about 100 feet away from the fire truck. She had called her mother to make sure that her son was okay but she really couldn't tell him what had happened to their home. God she really hated relying on other people. She was independent and now with her house in ashes along with most of her belongings, she would have to find a place to stay. Most likely with her parents, because they would not hear of her staying anywhere she had to pay money for. So, a hotel was out. She watched as the firefighters from one area started packing up the truck with the hoses they laid out earlier when the fire started. When they were finished she got out of her truck and asked if it was okay to go towards the building or what was left of it. The firefighters said that the building was still off-limits because the fire inspector had not finished his investigation into why the building had burned to the ground. He told her that in all actuality it would probably be around this time tomorrow when she could start sifting through what was left of her apartment. Sadly, Kate walk back to her Explorer slipped the key into the ignition, started the truck and drove to her mother's house. She barely remembers the drive over there but only started to brighten her mood when she saw her father and son playing catch in the front yard. It was almost noon and time for lunch when she arrived. Her parents knew about the fire and had not said anything to Eli about it.

The second she pulled the car into the driveway Eli was running towards her his baseball mitt long-forgotten lying by the sycamore tree. By the time he arrived at the side of her car, he had his hand on the door handle pulling on it to open it up.

"MOM!" Eli wrapped his arms around his mother's waist and held on tightly once she got out of the SUV.

Deciding that a proper hug was in order Kate got on Eli's level and held him close to her body while he wrapped his arms around her neck with just as much intensity. They stayed there for about a minute before they broke apart and Kate could see that he knew something was wrong. It was then when his grandmother and grandfather decided to come out of the house to greet her.

"Why don't we all go inside and I'll make us something to eat for lunch," Joanna said.

"I think that would be a great idea mom. Eli, there's something I need to tell you after lunch." Kate said as they walked back towards the house.

"Okay, Mom."

Jim just looked at his daughter knowing that what was going to come next was going to upset his world. But they would get through it.

Lunch consisted of a PB&J sandwich for Eli, Jim and Kate had cold cuts, and Joanna had leftover mac and cheese.

"So Eli, there is something that I need to talk to you about." Kate started.

"What is it, mom?"

"This morning I helped a man and his daughter that were lost. When I got them to where they needed to go to I dropped them off at their hotel."

"What were they doing?"

"Well, they are new to Dallas because they just moved here. They were lost trying to find the truck rental place to return the truck. So, I had them follow me to where it was. When they returned the truck they rented they needed a ride back to the hotel they were staying at, so I brought them there."

Both Jim and Johanna's eyebrows raised at that statement. They knew that their daughter was considerate, but they never thought that she would do something like this.

"Okay, mom so that's it?"

"No Eli, there's more I'm getting to it."

"Mom, just tell me what's wrong, you know like you tell me when it will hurt less if you just rip the band-aid off quickly so it won't hurt that much."

Kate knew her son was right and she told him.

"Eli, there was a fire at the building where we live. Everything that we had is now sitting in a pile of smoldering ash." She said dejectedly.

She watched as he mentally went through everything he had in his room knowing that he'd lost everything.

"My baseball card collection, my jerseys, my comic books, all my clothes? All of it is gone?"

"I'm afraid so baby. But we can replace all of it. I'm just glad that we were not in the building when it was burning."

"Mom come on we can't replace everything. The ball that was hit by Robinson Chirinos that Grandpa caught for me at the Rangers game last month was signed by him! I can't replace that because it was a home run ball." Eli told her with his eyes starting to tear up.

"Eli, I know that these things meant a lot to you. But I'm not the one to blame for what happened to our loft. We will get the everyday stuff replaced. But as for the mementos and keepsakes, I'm afraid that those are gone. But look at the bright side when you go to another game with your grandfather maybe you might be able to snag another home run ball. So tomorrow while you're at school I'm going to have to take the day off of work to sift through what's left of our place. From what I saw it doesn't look like there's anything that's salvageable. The fire destroyed everything but I'll try."

"Mom we have no home now. Where are we going to stay?" Eli asked.

"As much as I hate to admit this baby, I think that we will be staying right here that is if your grandmother and grandfather offer their house to us."

Before she could speak the last word and turn her head towards them, her parents were already shaking their heads in the affirmative motion. She knew it was too good to be true and she's grateful because they've always been there for her when she needed them the most. So, what she needs to do now is start hunting for a new place to live. She does have some money saved and thankfully she had fire insurance on her loft so all she has to do is collect from that policy and hopefully buy another place to stay. But now with Eli getting older, she wants to get an actual house and not another loft. The coming weeks will be tough on them but they'll make it through. When lunch is finished Kate makes her way to the guest room to get some sleep because she's been up for over 18 hours.


	8. Chapter 8

He wishes that she was here. Then this would not be so hard because he does not have a clue how she managed this all on her own. He needs to get Alexis registered for school but with all the options in Dallas, he's having a hard time deciding on which one to send her to. He has websites for Hockaday and other private schools as well as the Dallas Public School System. All the private schools need to have their registration fees and transcripts in very quickly or she will be late in registering for school. Hockaday starts their classes on August 22nd. The Dallas Independent School District DISD for short has already started their school year two days ago. Registering her in this school system would be easy, but it would be easier to find out which school she would be going to if they had a permanent address. They've been at the Crowne Plaza for the last week and a half. He can keep Alexis out of school until she's completely registered in the school he wants to send her to. He's leaning more towards Hockaday just because of the quality of education she will get there will be better than a public school. The tuition is high but it'll be worth it.

The real estate front, however, is not looking the greatest for them. He has looked at some houses in and around Dallas and he was disappointed with what the realtor showed him. He was showing them some houses that were in the range of about 110,000 to about 140,000 dollars.

After a long day of seeing nothing they liked, Alexis and Rick return back to the hotel once more. They're in a suite and Rick's room is separated from Alexis'. He tells her to get ready for bed seeing that it's almost 9 p.m. and he will do the same. But before he does that he makes a call to the realtor. He picks up and dial the number and waits until it connects.

"John, it's Rick Rogers. I'm calling because we need a different plan of attack on how we go searching for houses. The homes you've been showing us are fine but they're just not what we're looking for. What I suggest is that we look towards the higher end of the spectrum price wise. Let's say we can put the cap at up to $400,000. So, while I know its late, but tonight maybe before you pick us up tomorrow morning you can have a couple of houses to show us."

"Rick that's not a problem. I have the perfect neighborhood to show you. Let me do some research and I will have something better to show you tomorrow morning. Can I pick you up around 10-10:30 at the hotel?"

"That would be great John we'll be ready."

"Okay, so tomorrow then have a good night Rick."

He feels more confident now that he raised his purchase price. He's glad that he increased the amount. Maybe they will be able to find some decent houses now. With that settled he pulls up the website for Hockaday schools. The school itself is very modern and caters to opening up a girl's mind to the possibilities that there is more to life than just learning about the subjects they teach. They go deeper into each subject with an emphasis on the Fine Arts. Visual Arts, Performing Arts such as dance, drama, and music are what the fourth graders are introduced to. And looking forward to the fifth grade for Alexis, English and Writing are encouraged more so than other courses. They also have a summer reading schedule that could be beneficial for students. All in all, the school looks like the one that he will send his daughter to. It'll give her a structure and he hopes that she makes friends while she's here. The first thing he has to do though is get her transcripts sent from her prior school in San Francisco over to Hockaday. He has a hard copy but it doesn't include all of her accomplishments that she has achieved. That will be a project for tomorrow being that San Francisco is 2 hours behind them.

He also has to find a job. He glanced at the online postings and really didn't find anything to his liking. If it was down to working for a cookie cutter restaurant he would do just that just to pay the bills. But what he saw advertised on the internet wasn't what he wanted to do. He did, however, have enough cash on hand and the payout from Emily's life insurance policy to buy the house they wanted, and if need be he could find a place of his own to cook in. He wouldn't know what to do if he came to that.

Xx

The realtor arrived in the hotel lobby by 10 am. Rick and Alexis had just finished breakfast 10 minutes prior and were waiting for him to arrive.

"Morning John," Rick said as he extended his hand for q quick shake.

"Hey, Rick. I need to show you some properties. Is it okay if we take a seat in the lounge?"

"Sure."

All three of them walked into the lounge and sat at a long glass table. From his briefcase, he pulls out three separate property listings.

"Okay, what I have here are listings from a suburb of Dallas named Preston Hollow. I have three properties to show you they start at 389,000 and go up to 396,000. I'm not sure which ones you're going to like but these are the top end of your price range. Now there are more but they are a lot more expensive. I'm talking millions here. So I'll let you look at the pictures to see where you want to start and then we'll head out.

Rick and Alexis take each folder and look at it carefully. There are three houses and they are going to start with 6926 Royal Lane. And the last one they will look at will be 6631 Walnut Hill Lane. After giving the pictures back to the realtor they all rise from the table and set out for the first address. When they arrived at the first address a half an hour later the house looks appealing. That is until they get inside. The realtor opens the door and immediately Rick knows that this is not the house for them. The outside looks nice but the inside has way too much work to be done to it to be move-in ready. The carpets need replacing in one room, the bedroom he thinks it is, has the ceiling is falling down in it, the bathroom has some sort of stains on the walls the closets need to be repaired in just about every bedroom and whoever it was who was living here last left the laundry room window open and he can clearly see what looks to be like a wasp's nest hanging from under the cabinet near the washer. So, this house is a no-go. They're out of the house and into the next which isn't that far away. They pull up to 6839 Walnut Hill Lane in Dallas and from the outside, it looks like a Ranch type house. It's all one floor not like the last one which was two floors.

"Rick this was just listed three days ago. It has 1419 square feet, with 4 bedrooms, two baths. The yard is not fenced in, but it is pretty large." John tells them.

They walk inside through the front door and what they see immediately is an empty house everything is moved out and all they need to do now is move in if they choose to. The floors in the living room and dining room are parquet wooden floors. But it's the kitchen that really catches Rick's attention. It's basic which is what he likes. There's no center island in the middle of the kitchen to clutter things up but there is an island off to the right adjacent to the stove. He likes the size of the kitchen and the floor is tiled. Being that it's just the two of them it should work just fine. John takes them to one of the four bedrooms. The first one is small but could be used for storage. Then he takes them to the master bedroom and that has him sold. The master is huge and very bright and airy. They look at the first bathroom and find that it's got an updated enclosed shower space but no tub and a single vanity. The second bathroom which would be for Alexis has a tub and a single vanity.

"The sellers are motivated to sell Rick. I'm sure if you make them a reasonable offer they'd most likely accept." John said as he watched Rick's face go from doubting to acceptance in the blink of an eye.

"How much are they asking John?" Rick asked.

"It's listed at 396,000. But I'm sure if you make a reasonable offer they will accept."

Rick looked to Alexis to see what she thought. All he saw on her face was a smile that stretched from ear to ear. So, she must like it too. Decision made.

John, get the paperwork started. Tell them I'll put in a bid of $390,000."

"Right away Rick. I'll give you a ride back to the hotel and I'll have the offer in to them in about two hours. If I need anything I'll call you."

By the time John had given them the ride back to the hotel, Rick was happy in the thought that if his offer was accepted they wouldn't be staying here very much longer. Sure, the house needed personal touches by them but in all accounts, they liked it. Now came the waiting game to see if the owners would accept their offer.

Now all he had to do was get Alexis registered for school and for him to find a job. He would tackle the easy one first.


	9. Chapter 9

She is at her wit's end. Having to fill out the same fire insurance forms for the third time is making her go batty. She's grateful for the last month that she's been spending with her parents and she knows that her son loves being here as well, but there really can't be so much red tape in order to get reimbursed for the contents of her loft. She filled out the same forms three times now and the insurance company still kicks it back for some stupid mistake. Actually, it's not a mistake it's more about punctuation. A missing comma here, a wrong address, or a missing decimal point there. She is fed up with the whole process of getting reimbursed for her belongings. She thinks that the insurance company is doing it on purpose so she won't be paid. This is a conversation that she has had with her parents many times over the last two weeks and they keep telling her that big companies sometimes lose the little people. That's fine, but it doesn't help her get her stuff replaced. She can't believe that she can be swept under the carpet that easily.

When she was at work last week she saw a little girl with red hair waiting in the emergency room seating area. She is automatically brought back to Alexis and how she looked when she drove them back to their temporary home four weeks ago. She knows that Rick had something to hide. Maybe something he wasn't ready to talk about yet, but his daughter spoke volumes to her without saying a word. She hopes that they are adjusting to life in Dallas. It can be a vast undertaking in itself. She realizes that they are now most likely in the same situation, they're both homeless. Rick and Alexis are looking for a place to live and now, and so is she. Maybe they could be neighbors. Hey, anything is possible so she won't disregard the possibility.

"Katie, are you going to get down here anytime soon? We only have a half an hour before your father blows a gasket." Her mother shouted out in the general direction of her room upstairs.

"Mom just keep him busy. Eli an I will be down as soon as Eli finds his mitt." Kate yelled back at her mother.

That boy! He could lose anything in the span of two seconds. Johanna is happy that her daughter is back living with her and her father. Cramped as it may be, they find a way to make it work. In a way, she does not want either of them to leave but she knows that she is wishing for the impossible because one day they will be where they were over a month ago, alone.

"Mom could you not have him wanting to prod Eli every two minutes? The last time they went to a Rangers game he went without his glove and it was just fine." Kate yelled back.

"Honey you need to remember that we have changed our seats for this game to the first base line to be able to catch a foul ball for Eli. So, he needs his glove in order to do that." Johanna yelled back.

"Baby you need to find your mitt. Your grandfather is going to be upset if you don't."

"Mom come on he won't be that upset!"

"You do know who you are talking about right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'll find it I promise." Eli tells her knowing that his grandfather would be a little upset if he could not find his glove.

Kate leaves him to it as he tries to find his glove. It's been a weekend ritual that they've been doing since Kate moved back with her parents. Every Saturday they treat themselves to a Rangers home game if they're in town and she can't say that she doesn't like it. Because it is so much fun when they all get to go together.

It had been a while since she had been able to get time off from work to go with them to a game. But her mother and father had taken Eli religiously to every Saturday afternoon game in the last month when they had a home game at the stadium. This was the first time in two weeks that she had been able to attend a game with them. Kate had made an agreement with her mother and father after the first game they went to. He made them promise that they would never buy all the souvenirs they bought at the first game they went to. Eli's room was already filled with foam fingers, pennants, and every imaginable type of baseball paraphernalia that the stadium vendors sold. If they didn't curb their spending on their grandson she promised that there would never be another Saturday game altogether and so far, it's worked. But she wouldn't put it past her father to buy something for her son and give it to him later when she didn't see him giving it to him.

"Hey, Mom I found it! It was lying in the bottom of my closet. I can't really imagine how it got there since I just used it last week with Grandpa. But I did find it." Eli shouted out.

Kate hears this as she passes his bedroom door and wonders the same thing.

"Come on and get a move on then Eli. We've got a game to get to."

Xx

It didn't matter if she was still waiting for her insurance check to cover her losses from the fire she still needed to find a place to stay. She's very appreciative of her parents giving her room to stay with them but she is independent and her son is a bit hesitant around her parents' home. That's why on Saturday she has an appointment with a realtor to look at houses that would fit her and Eli's needs. She'll be able to take him for tomorrow's appointments but on Monday she'll have to do it on her own. The money she has saved and the money she hopes to get from the insurance company should be able to pay off at least half of a house in the Dallas area if she plays her cards right. She wants to look at the house she noticed on Zillo. It has at least four bedrooms one for her, one for Eli and maybe a third one will be an office or an entertainment room and the last one well, who knows what she'll do with that one. More bathrooms and the garage would be nice this time around. It's the one thing she didn't have at the loft. But now it's time for fun so she will go with her parents and her son to hopefully watch the Texas Rangers beat up on the New York Yankees.

It turns out that the day was that much better then she could have imagined. Her father and Eli had both come out of their seats and lunged for a foul ball hit by Joey Gallo and Eli was the one to come away with it. She watched as the smile on his face got wider and wider until her dad told him that he was just lucky. After a second to think about they all started to laugh.

They left the stadium with a caught foul ball and a win. The final score was Rangers 4, Yankees 3. It was a good day to be a Texas Rangers fan.

Xx

Kate and Eli waited for the realtor to come out of her office with the listing for the house they were going to see. It was in a better part of Dallas and she was happy that they could be in a better area.

"Kate, Eli this home at 6839 Walnut Hill Lane is a buyers delight. It has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a three car garage. The deck was just redone and it's got a neighborhood that is amazing."

"Okay. Let's go see it."

By the time Kate Eli and the realtor had arrived, they noticed a 2017 Cadillac CTS sitting in the street at the address as they pulled up to it.

"Kate, I'm sure that these people are just lookie-loos. They can't be seriously thinking about putting an offer in on this home." Kim the realtor said.

They all got out of her new Lincoln MKz and watched as the people walked around to the back of the house taking in every small detail of the house they were looking at.

"Kate, Eli what I think we should do is take a look at the interior of this home. This way it'll give the other realtor time to finish up their tour." Kim suggested.

All Kate could do was nod. But something was bothering her. She'd seen the people heading to the back before. She could never forget that red hair. So, to prove her theory correct she broke off from the realtor who was holding on to Eli's hand making sure he was safe and she followed the path they took around the back of the house. It was like a game of cat-and-mouse by the time she enters the backyard they were heading back towards their car as she met Kim by the back door she could have sworn she knew the man standing next to the little girl with red hair. Kim gets the key from the lockbox and they enter the home. It's everything they want and more.

"Kate the seller is motivated and wants to sell to a person who wants to raise a family. That's what they did when they first bought this house and they would like to see it put to the same use the way they did."

"Kim, is there any way you can find out who was just here looking at this house?"

"I'm sure I could, but why?"

"It's just that I think I know those people," Kate said still unsure.

"Mom? Who were they?" Eli asked.

Just as Kim was going to answer the door swung open revealing the first realtor they just saw outside. His head was turned towards the interior of the house not realizing that there were clients standing in the kitchen, then a deep voice sounded from behind the realtor,

"Alexis honey you need to be quick. I'm sure the bathroom has toilet paper but if it doesn't just yell out and I will find you some….." But his voice trailed off as he finally saw who was standing there in the home.

Kate watched as a red blur fly past her. By the time the bathroom door slams closed the realtor notices that they're not alone.

"Sorry to intrude. Nature called." The realtor said looking a bit bashful.

It wasn't until Rick walked into the kitchen and noticed that the lady who helped him a while ago was standing in front of him.

"Kate?"

"Rick?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Do you two know each other?" Kim asked

"Well, I, ah, um," Kate mumbled as if she lost the power of speech.

Rick was standing there watching Kate trying to fumble through a description of if they knew each other and decided to help her out.

"Kate here was kind enough to give me assistance when I needed it the most. I was lost and she helped me find my way."

All Kate could do was stare at Rick knowing that she did a lot less in her mind and he just made her out to be some sort of angel that day.

"Daddy look it's Kate!" Alexis said happily as she came out into the kitchen from the bathroom.

"Mom, who are they?" Eli wanted to know.

Kate knelt down to be on the same level as her son.

"Sweetie, do you remember last month when I told you I brought two people to the Ryder rental location to return their truck?

"I do mom."

"Well, it turns out that these are those two people."

"That's great mom but they're here in our house."

Rick looked down at Alexis and the second she looked up at him he knew that she heard what Eli just said. Then he saw her chin start to quiver and he knew that tears would soon start to flow.

"Pumpkin, please don't cry. We know that the sellers have many people looking at their home. Just because there are many people looking at this house doesn't mean that we won't be able to buy it."

Kate was quick to reaffirm to her son that this was not their house yet.

"Eli, while we might want this house there are other people looking to buy it. It really is not our home yet and if Rick was here first and made an offer and the buyers accept, then this their home then."

"But mom we need a place to live. I don't like living with grandma and grandpa anymore."

"Eli, that's not nice. Your grandparents opened their home to us after the fire. I don't want to hear you complaining about living there. You have a safe place to stay and they love you."

Rick watched as they talked just above a whisper and decided to do something about it after hearing them talk. He was hesitant at first but he hoped that his idea was acceptable to Kate and her son. So, he told the realtors to leave the kitchen so they could talk.

"Eli is it?" Rick asked and Eli was taken aback as this huge man placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Yes." He squeaked out and Alexis let out a small giggle.

"I am Rick and this is Alexis. We have been searching for a home for quite some time and while we might have found one but it seems that you did too."

"Hi Rick, hi Alexis." Eli greeted them.

"Hi, Eli." Alexis returned.

"Kate, can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure, Rick. What's on your mind?"

"Follow me."

Rick guided Kate out over to the small alcove that sat just off the kitchen. When he did this Eli became a little too protective of his mother and stepped between Rick and Kate.

"E, it's okay. We are just going to talk right over there." Kate said as she pointed to the alcove." Reassuring him.

Eli watched Rick with the eyes of a hawk as they walked away. And then he turned and noticed Alexis and her sad look.

"Kate, I know that we really don't know each other that well but I have a suggestion that might benefit the both of us. That is if you're willing to hear me out."

"Alright, Rick I'm listening."

"I heard you say something about a fire can you tell me what happened?"

"The day I rescued you I went home after my shift and dropping you off and I was stopped just before I turned onto my street. It seems that Reggie the idiot decided to fire up his hibachi in more ways than one. Allegedly his inability to be responsible caused the entire 8 lofts to burn to the ground when a slight wind tipped over his lawn chair onto the hibachi knocking the coals onto the deck. That, in turn, set the whole place up destroying everything."

"I'm sorry to hear that Kate, I really am. But my thought is that we have a couple of more houses to look at today. Since we don't really need this house I would be willing to let you have it. I know how living with parents can be a little strained and Eli doesn't seem to be all that happy. If you want it this house is yours." Rick said.

This man, she thinks he is worth his weight in gold. Who in their right mind would give up a house that they were here first to see? She does love the house but he already put a bid in on it.

"Rick I can't do that to you. You and Alexis have been cooped up in the Crown Plaza hotel for over a month now. Is she even going to school yet? Have you found a job yet? So, no, while that is a very nice and generous offer I'm going to have to say no to your kind suggestion.

Rick knew she was being polite. And he also knew that she loved this house he could see it in her eyes. He was going to do the one thing he promised himself that he'd never do, he would play the child card and he hoped that Alexis would agree with his decision.

"Okay, Kate I can see that your pride is trying to make an appearance here and that's very admirable. But I say what if we ask the children who also love this house their thoughts?"

Kate's face automatically dropped and went pale at his suggestion.

"Rick I don't think that's a good idea. You know what they will both want and it will definitely start a fight. I think that we should just part as friends and I can find something else."

Before Kate even finished her sentence Rick head turned and was heading towards Eli and his daughter. She reached out to try and grab his arm but was unsuccessful. Then she rushed ahead to try to beat him to the children, but she failed because his massive frame was blocking the doorway to the kitchen. She instead tried to stick her head near his left shoulder to see what was going on.

Rick stood there looking at both children who were looking up at him. Neither had moved from the spot since he and Kate talked in the alcove.

"Eli, Alexis, I have a question I need to ask both of you and need an honest answer from each of you."

"Pumpkin, do you like this house if we were to buy it?"

Alexis looks her father and then sees Kate head pop up over his left shoulder with a shocked look on her face. So instead of answering vocally she simply nods her head.

Rick sights in on Eli and asks the same question.

"Eli, could you see yourself and your mom living here in this house?"

Eli first looks to Alexis and then to his mother who is still behind Rick trying to see him around the massive man blocking the doorway. He does the same as Alexis and nods his head. Not too trusting of his own voice.

The children both looked at each other and then to each of their parents wondering what's going on.

Rick opened up with what he hoped would be a compromise between the two families.

"It must be fate or universe giving us a sign that we both came to the same house, on the same day and at the same time and it also seems that we both like it a lot. It's everything I wanted in a house. It has 4 bedrooms a three-car garage, and a kitchen that I can be very comfortable in."

"Rick why would you be comfortable in the kitchen? Wouldn't you like the living room or one of the bedrooms so much better?" Kate suggested from behind him not knowing if he was out of his mind by what he just said.

Rick held off a hearty laugh because he never told Kate what he did for a living.

"Kate the reason I would feel comfortable in this kitchen is that I'm a chef. I create just about everything with food that you would want to eat."

"Oh, now it makes sense. I get it."

"So what I'm suggesting is that together we buy this house and share it. Or I could buy it and you could live here rent-free."

"Rick I appreciate the offer but I would have to pay something to live here I'm not going to freeload off anybody even if I agree to this that is."

"Ahh yes, Kate but you failed to notice who was here first. If the owner accepts our offer which we already asked our realtor to put in, by the way, then it would be my house. So, while the house could be mine I am willing to share it with you."

Kate knew he had her. She knew that he was here first but if she upped her offer she might be able to knock him out of the running and get it all on her own. But then again, she noticed the look and tears that were about to start on his daughter's face earlier and couldn't do that to him.

"I'll tell you what Rick. Let's see if this bid you offered is accepted. If it is then I will give your offer some thought. But I will not live here rent free. I'm sure that the only reason Eli agreed is that this place has a huge yard to play ball in. Maybe there is a way we can find a compromise. But I have to speak with Eli about it."

"That's okay Kate. I know that this must seem highly unorthodox to you but we can work out the particulars later. As long you and your son are okay with it. By the way how old is your son?" Rick asked.

"Eli will turn 10 in October. How old is Alexis?" Kate mimicked his question.

"She's nine and will turn 10 in November."

"Are we done in here yet?" The realtor's voices rang out.

Both Kate and Rick turned to see both realtors standing in the living room waiting patiently. Becoming a bit bashful Kate said,

"For now I think we're going to let Mr. Rodger's offer stand. We'll talk more about this later but maybe we might be able to come to some sort of an agreement together."

"Well, I never! This is unheard of how do you expect me to make a living if you go off and give away the listing I have found for you?" Kim ranted.

Rick who needs to calm things down decided to talk to Kate's realtor.

"I'm sorry I didn't get your name," Rick asked the upset woman.

"My name is Kim from the Dallas Remax office."

"Kim sometimes in life things don't always go the way you plan. What I'm suggesting here is that if my offer is accepted I will give you your 1.5% for showing this house to Kate. This way everybody comes out a winner. Is that acceptable to you?" Rick hoped that it was.

After about a minute of thought, Kim said,

"Mr. Rodgers yes I think that your offer would be acceptable."

"John, can you let me know if the sellers accept his offer?" Kim asked.

"I will Kim. So, are we done here?" John wanted to know.

All he could see when he looked over at the two families were nodding heads.

"Okay, then it looks like I have some work to do so lets all head back to my office. John suggested.


	11. Chapter 11

John had received an answer for Rick that he knew he would love. The seller accepted Rick's offer for a cash sale and was swayed because of the story John told the sellers, Mr. and Mrs. Gallo when he told them of Rick's offer. They were very happy to hear that Rick gave the second client the option to buy the home instead of him. Who says chivalry is dead? When they heard that she turned it down they were more surprised at his suggestion of cohabitating in the home. After her husband complained that in his day that would never happen, it was Mrs. Gallo who reminded her husband that people meet and get together in so many different ways nowadays, so who was he to judge. She had hoped that they became a couple and raised their children together, the way they did with their own children years ago.

"Rick, It's John from Century 21."

"John please tell me that you have good news."

"Only the best for you because I know that you are tired of being cooped up in a hotel room. Should I tell you over the phone or do you want me to do it in person?"

"Do it over the phone, John, I can't stand the suspense anymore. It's been a long two days."

"Well, it seems that Mr. and Mrs. Gallo has decided to accept your cash offer of $390,000. Seeing that the house in move-in ready, you can start moving your personal effects into the house this afternoon if you so desire. But I don't think that's what you're going to do if I know you and I think I do. The second I hang up this phone you're going to be back on it talking to Kate."

If a man could blush right then and there it was Rick.

"John, what are you talking about?"

"So you do wanna go down that road, don't you Rick? Come on, I could see the sparks between you two in the kitchen."

Rick who thought he did a pretty good job of concealing his feelings that day, but obviously he didn't do that good of a job.

"Was I that obvious John?"

"Rick it was easy to tell that you were in the love haze. It just does funny things to you when you're in that zone. It's like you completely forget about everybody and everything around you. I, on the other hand, am very happy for you. She seems like she would make you very happy."

In the back of his head, Rick was thinking the exact same thing that John was. There was just something about her he didn't know what it was but he knew it had to do with her drive. Once she had a problem she would do nothing to stop from solving it.

"Yes, you right John she will be my next call. Wish me luck and when will you be here to drop off the keys?"

"Actually I have a client to take out now for a quick look at a condo not far from your hotel. I could meet you there and say… twenty-five minutes. Is that good for you?"

"Not a problem John. It's not like to have anywhere to go to."

"Okay right. I'll see you then."

After hanging up the phone he knocks on the door to Alexis' bedroom. She has been working on her school assignment at her desk. He wants to tell her the good news and then he'll call Kate. He can imagine how that call will go.

"Pumpkin can I come in?"

"Sure dad I'm just studying for this history test I have on Tuesday"

"So how is school going? I mean I know you've only been there one week. Is it as good as your school in San Francisco?" Rick really wanted to know.

"In some ways, it's better and in others, it's about on the same level. But it is a good school and I like the teachers there. So dad who was on the phone?"

"Well, it seems that the offer I put in for the house that you love so much was accepted. Now, all we have to do is gather our things up because Jon is going to swing by very soon to drop off the keys to our new home. And then we get the check out of this chicken coop. This was a good place but it's just not home."

"I agree. Did you call Kate yet?" She said with a wide-eyed sneaky look.

"That's not the reason I came in here Alexis. I need to make sure that you're okay with sharing a house with two complete strangers. I know we had lunch earlier in the week and you got to know Eli and Kate a little bit better, but I just need to make sure that you're all right with them living with us."

"Dad really, it's fine. They need to place to stay and so did we. I'd say we're killing two birds with one stone. And yeah Eli can get on my nerves a little but that's what 10-year-old boys do. They tease and torment ten-year-old girls. I'm okay with it if you are Dad."

His daughter was so mature for her age and he loved her so much for it.

"Pumpkin. What do you say we get packed up and out of here?"

"Okay, Daddy," Alexis said brightly.

Xx

Kate was behind the proverbial eight ball. Her call from Rick less than ten minutes ago had her second-guessing her position on the house that he had recently bought. Like recently as of early this morning. She really did want to move into the home, but the more she thought about it maybe this was not such a good idea. There were a million questions running through her head and she didn't have an answer for any of them.

Would they get along? How would they split the household chores? Would he watch Eli if she got called in for an emergency? Would Eli and Alexis fight or get along? Then there was the house itself. Maintenance, upkeep, and all the headaches that went with owning a house. She was startled when Eli came to the kitchen and noticed her worried look.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Eli, Rick just called my cell and told me that his offer to buy the house was accepted. Do I need to ask you if this is really what you want to do? I know you've told me on Saturday that you would move in with Rick and his daughter but listen E, this is going to be for the rest of our lives. We're going to be staying with Rick and his daughter for the duration. And if you don't know what duration is think of it as you finishing high school and then going to college. You will be leaving for college from this house. But you can always change your mind if you…"

"Mom, you're taking this way too seriously. Rick is a decent guy and Alexis is a good friend even though we've only had lunch together once. She has the same likes and dislikes I have and she understands that we might be good together as friends. You know, new friends and all? And I know I'm a boy and she's a girl and that will cause issues when we get older, but let's try it out just to see what happens, okay?"

"If you are sure, I'll give Rick a callback and tell him that we accept."

"Mom, it'll be fine." Her son told her as she walked back to get her phone.

Xx

"Rick, I have talked it over with Eli and we would love to share the house with you."

"Kate this is going to be great you'll see! So, we meet you there later this afternoon say around two?"

"That would be great Rick we will see you then."

When Kate ended the call, she knew that she had to at least bring they necessities. She will get Eli and herself clothes to change into for the next couple of days. The bigger stuff would have to come out of storage later but she could take what she had in her parent's house over in small loads. She didn't know where Rick's stuff was only that it was in a storage area somewhere near Dallas. They would need to get a truck rented to move his stuff as well.

When she returned back to Eli's room she noticed him sitting on his bed and that his duffel bag was stuffed full of clothes already. Well at least one them were ready to go.

"Let me guess, you wanted to leave ten minutes ago, right?"

"Well yeah. Are my packed clothes a giveaway."

"Eli listen I'm going to have to pack some more stuff. So why don't you decide on what you want to take to your new room that you can't live without and whatever is left we can come back for tomorrow. If you can, find a box to put it in."

"Okay, mom. You need any help?"

"Now I'm pretty good for now I'm just gonna throw together some clothes for the week, my scrubs, and my hospital stuff," Kate said as she walked back to her room.

Xx

They both knew would happen one day. But why didn't have to happen so soon? They had both known she had left two days ago to go house hunting. But what they did not know was what happened after. She was very guarded when she entered the house and Eli who is usually very talkative didn't say a word. And that in itself was highly unusual. Joanna heard her moving around upstairs about fifteen minutes ago. And whatever she was doing it was like a tornado was let loose inside the house. It was until later when they both came down when they found out what was going on. And Joanna was hurt at first but understood that her daughter was an independent woman and needed to be on her own. She didn't like to rely on other people that much. And she's glad that she had the last month and a half with her daughter and grandson.

"So Katie, can tell me where you are heading off to?" Her father asked.

"Dad, mom I have found a place to stay. It's the funniest thing really me and Eli were going to look at a house not far from here. When we got there, there was someone already looking at the house. We decided to let our realtor show us what's the inside while the other clients walked around the outside. As it turns out a little girl who was there with her father had to use the restroom. It was only then when I realized that they were the people I rescued with the Ryder truck. They were looking to buy the house I was looking at. So, to make a long story short he initially offered us the house even though he was their first. But then we came up with another idea and somehow, he worked his daughter and Eli into the mix by asking them if they loved the house. Now it seems that we're sharing a house together. I will pay my part of the rent and utilities but we each have our own rooms. Would you like to come along to see it mom, dad?"

"Well, that seems like a fairy tale, Katie. Your knight in shining armor comes in it rescues you at the last minute." Joanna said a little sadly.

All Kate could do was look down and her feet blushing as she did.

"Come on Katie let's get to your new place so I can see what kind of a woman's touch it will need," Johanna said reaching for her keys.

"Eli shake a leg were leaving now!" Kate yelled.

Eli was trying not to fall down the stairs by looking over the box he had in his arms to make sure he was still hitting the steps as he walked down them. He was failing miserably because it was overflowing with mostly his baseball stuff.

"Eli, what do you have there? His grandfather asked.

"Grandpa, these are all my souvenirs from all the Ranger games that we went to. I want to put them up in my new room. Can you help me?"

"Sure I can. Come on let's get this loaded into your SUV."

"Katie, your dad and I will follow you over to this new house," Johanna told her.

"Okay, mom. Come on you're going to love it." Kate said with enthusiasm


	12. Chapter 12

Dynamite. That's what was needed here. Johanna could see the potential in this house if she had about ten sticks of dynamite strategically placed in certain areas that is. As she walked around the home taking it all in she could not seem to shake her shadow. Rick, whom she just met five minutes ago was somehow hinged on her every word as if it were gospel. He followed her around waiting for her next report of the room she just left.

"Rick, I'm a big girl. I am able to walk through this house on my own and come to my own opinion about this space alright?"

It's not that she minded him following her around, it's just that he expected her to make a comment on every room she entered and left. And she would give him her honest opinion but not until she had walked the entire house. She turned around quickly and gave him a look that was probably worse and her daughters own scowl. It had the desired effect because he backed off retreating back into the kitchen. That left her free to roam the house in peace.

"Kate I have to hand it to you, your mother's opinion is one that I will value, but I would hate to be on her bad side."

"Rick she has knowledge that we need. She and my dad have lived here all their lives and she knows as I'm sure my dad knows there are things to look for when buying a house in this part of Texas."

"Kate, it's not that I don't doubt your parents are looking out for us, but this was our decision. You told me on the phone that we would be doing this ourselves. And I don't wanna start rocking the boat so early being that we just got the house, and I do appreciate their help, but don't you think telling me they were coming now would have probably been better than just showing up with them?" Rick asked her.

"Rick they offered. And I know this is a stressful time but it'll all be over pretty soon. Now let me take you into the backyard because I want to talk to you about some of what we might want to do together."

Rick left Alexis with Eli while he and Kate walked out into the backyard. They were going to go up to the respective bedrooms that they had been given earlier to see what they might be able to put away.

"Come on Rick what I think we should do is a fence in the backyard. This way the dog will have the room to run around without getting lost." Kate suggested.

For some strange reason, Rick missed everything she just said and just started nodding his head in agreement until it dawned on him the words she spoke as he put together in his head.

"Wait, a dog? Kate, we don't own a dog."

"I know but I've always wanted one and since we have a house now maybe we could get one?"

He barely knew her. Her likes or dislikes but he knows now that she likes dogs.

"Kate a dog is a very big responsibility. What kind of breed were you thinking about here?"

"I'm not sure Rick. I was thinking that could be a decision that we might make together."

Rick looked down at her, seeing all the love in her eyes for something she was so passionate about. He couldn't deny her having a dog. They are both brought out of their thoughts when Johanna askes them to come back inside to talk. They both follow each other and headed for the house.

When they both are in the kitchen Johanna starts talking.

"What this home needs is a woman's loving touch. There's enough space in this first floor to do some expanding. What I suggest is that you knock down this wall, that wall, and make this a more open space. Then the kitchen can be a better-utilized space, Rick am I to understand that you like to cook?" Johanna asked.

"I do. But I thought the kitchen was fine just the way…"

"Rick I think that you're a man who expresses himself by the way he creates. Am I right?"

Rick just looked at Kate wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into.

"Yes, that would be a fair assumption."

"Then if I were you I'd take out that oven and replace it with an island cooktop freeing up the space that the stove once occupied. This will give you more counter space to create."

Rick looked at the space Johanna was talking about and he could see what she meant. So now on top of just buying this house going to have to remodel the kitchen. He just hopes that Kate will like what he has in mind. He is once again interrupted by what Kate's mother has a mind for his house.

"Rick, I love the tile on the floors. It will make it easier to clean up in the long run but for the most part, the kitchen seems to be pretty much user-friendly. It is where the family meets for morning meals and where most families meet up at the end of their day. If I were you, I would center this as your main room. Bedrooms upstairs are a good size. Eli's room is probably a little bit bigger than Alexis's Room. Just between me you and Katie, I would switch them around put Alexis in Eli's room and vice versa. Girls need a little more room than boys do. Now as for you and my daughter's room, I'll leave that up to the two of you." Johanna said looking directly at them both. "Other than that, I would clean out the crawl space below and use it for storage. Quite honestly, I think you got an excellent buy here Rick.

Rick watched Jim's head bob up and down in agreement with his wife.

"Well it looks like you have a lot of work to do and if you need us to help you move some stuff over we will be available anytime." Jim posed his statement like a question so that had Rick asking if he was available right now.

"Jim, I would appreciate it if you could give me a hand with the larger appliances like the washer the dryer and I have a spare refrigerator that I want to put into the garage for now."

"I will be glad to help you, Rick. Would you want to back up the rental truck to the garage door so we can just slide the refrigerator all first? And then will work on the washer and dryer. If I'm not mistaken I think I noticed a connection on the other side the garage."

"You're right Jim there is a connection on the other side the garage so whenever you're ready."

The two men and Eli walk out into the garage from the kitchen.

"Katie honey let me help you with the kitchen items that you already brought in and then from there will give this house what it needs the most… a woman's touch."

"Okay, mom." Kate could hardly believe that her mother was so lax in her attitude about her living here with a man that she had barely met.

By the time 1:00 p.m. came they all decided to have a short break for lunch. It was this time that Rick found out more about Joanna. She would be born and raised in Texas. She had Kate when she was just twenty-six. Her father retired from teaching law two years ago. Joanna was still working as a school nurse in the Dallas school district.

Over pizza and soda, they talked about certain things that needed to be done before it felt more like a home to all of them. Rick and Jim with a little help from Eli got the second refrigerator positioned in the garage where it's out of the way of the cars, the washer and dryer were hooked up and working. The garage was swept down and ready for any other items that either of them had in storage.

After lunch, Kate and Joanna and Alexis were going back to Kate's mom's house to pick up more personal items to bring in to the new house. At the same time Rick, Jim, and Eli were going back to the storage unit outside of Dallas to pick up the rest of the furniture that Rick had in storage. They still had the big truck and one more trip should be able to get everything over in one shot. They said their goodbyes and both groups when in their own directions. It wasn't until 3:30 in the afternoon when they all met up back at the house. The girls my arrived home before the guys did in the second they walked into the house they could smell something so delicious that had their mouths watering. Joanna had taken her mother's recipe for beef stew with her when they left her house. She said it had been passed down from family to family and it's one of Jim's favorites. Their time was occupied bringing in all the furniture and trying to set it up in an arrangement that would appeal to everyone who entered their home while she prepared dinner.

Xx

"This is amazing!" Rick commented around a full mouth of stew.

"Mrs. Beckett I have to agree with my dad, this is excellent stew!" Alexis said after swallowing her mouthful.

"Alexis sweetie, I think that we are beyond proper names don't you think? Please call me Jo or Johanna."

Alexis just looked to her dad wondering if it was disrespectful to do so. He just nodded his agreement.

"Thank you, Johanna," Alexis said.

"You are quite welcome."

"Johanna I was wondering if you might want to part with your recipe?" Rick asked.

"Rick as much as I'd like to give this to you, I'm afraid that this is a family secret. Why may I ask would you want this anyway?"

"Joanna I'm a chef and I like bringing new things to people who appreciate good food. This, right here, what I'm eating now is some of the best food I have eaten in my life."

"Come on Rick I think you just pulling my leg," Johanna said.

"No Joanna he's not. Once my dad hounded a woman for her grandmother's recipe for rice pudding. He'd never ever done that before. It was like a disaster. He sent this woman flowers, he cooked for her specifically at the restaurant in San Francisco where he used to work in order to entice her to give her the recipe. He even paid her bill for dinner." Alexis said.

"So Alexis what happened did she ever give it to him?" Joanna inquired.

"You could say that. What she did was give him the base recipe for her grandmother's rice pudding. But she didn't give him the secret ingredients."

"So then how did he make the pudding then?"

"He added a bit of his own creativity to the pudding. Instead of raisins which is commonly used in rice pudding, he used pineapples cut up into small pieces. I think that it was better than the rice pudding that this woman raved about. Maybe someday he'll make it for you."

"What do you say Rick do you feel like making me some your world-famous rice pudding for a beef stew recipe?" Johanna said with a laugh.

"Joanna I would be thrilled to have you over for dinner one night and show you what I can do. And yes, I will make my world- famous rice pudding just for you."

All Jim did was smile. Not only was he going to get another good meal but he was going to get one of his favorite desserts as well.

By the time the dinner dishes were washed and put away and the table cleaned off Johanna and Jim bid their farewells. Closing the front door Kate and Rick needed to head upstairs to make sure both children had clean sheets and comforters on their beds. Getting them settled in and kissing them both good night Rick and Kate moved to leave their rooms. They were both stopped at the door when Alexis said to her dad,

"Dad, I'm really glad that we decided to share our house with Kate and Eli. I especially like Johanna."

At the same exact time, Eli stopped his mom at the door too.

"Mom, I'm glad that Rick and Alexis let us move in with them. I kinda like Rick."

Both parents responded in their own way at almost the same time.

"Pumpkin, I'm glad that you are happy," Rick said.

"Tiger, I'm happy that you're happy here," Kate said.

They both opened their children's doors and walked out softly closing the doors behind them. Turning to face each other they looked at each other and noticed that they were both were wearing very wide smiles….


	13. Chapter 13

The second they were out and into the car and he had pulled away from the house Joanna started in on Jim.

"So husband of mine, who do you think will crack first?"

"I'm not too sure Joanna that's a tough call to make. I can see that he has feelings for her but she is still on the fence so to speak. I'm not sure."

"Well you have to admit Jim they do make an adorable couple. And they already have a family that's practically made for them. Alexis is so cute, and Eli seems to get along with her just fine." Johanna said knowing that her husband was tuned into what she was thinking.

"Jo she really has not dated another man since Shaun died. What makes you think that Rick will be her new stand in?" Jim asked.

"Jim she's lonely. She needs a strong man around to show her that there is still a possibility for love. No matter where it comes from."

"I just hope your right Jo."

In the back of her head she was thinking so was she.

Xx

"Well, it looks like you survived my mom and dad Rick," Kate said giving him a laugh as she did.

"I really like them, Kate. They seemed like down to earth people. And your mom had a great idea about kitchen expansion. Which reminds me since tomorrow is Sunday could we go over what we want to do with the kitchen?"

"We can. But I won't have that much time to spare for this because I'm working at the hospital starting at eleven. I need to sleep before I go in."

"Okay. So maybe we should call it a night."

"I think so. It's getting late." Kate said in agreement.

By the time they checked on Eli and Alexis they were both sound asleep. Each parent headed to their respective bedrooms and Kate stopped before she entered hers. Looking back at Rick who was standing at his door she said,

"Sweet dreams Rick."

She opened her door and entered her bedroom leaving a very happy Rick Castle standing in the hallway.

Xx

When Rick woke the next morning, he heard the kitchen door open and close. It was Monday morning and that in itself was not something he looked forward to. He heard what must be Kate downstairs rummaging through some of the boxes to find the coffee maker which he forgot to pull out last night and set up for her. He knew one thing for sure they were going to have to get their routines set. He didn't know what she did when she got home from work. He only knew was that she was exhausted after working the last eight hours but a strange feeling made him want to help her when she got home after a long shift.

Her night could have not have gone any better. Kim, Kenzie, and Jessie all wanted to know everything that had happened after she bought the new house. She shocked all of them when she told them that she moved in with Rick.

"Kate what are you doing? For all, you know this guy could be an axe-wielding murderer. He could chop you up into tiny little pieces and we'd never know." Kim suggested.

"Come on Kim! Do you think I'm that much of a fool?"

"No. but he might be." She insisted.

"Kim, he has a child for God's sake. So, no I don't think my life is in danger."

"Well if you're okay with it then I guess I can be too."

"Kim listen, he helped me out when I needed it the most. And the funny thing about it was that I didn't even realize I needed him."

"Kate if you need anything I'm here for you," Jess said as he passed her on his way to the nurse's station.

"Thanks, Jess," Kate said.

"So what did the two of you do yesterday?" Kenzie asked.

"When my parents found out about Rick they wanted to see this house all of a sudden. They insisted on coming along."

"No, they didn't. Did they? Kenzie asked.

"Oh yeah, they did. I really felt bad for Rick. We kinda ambushed him. But he took it like a man.

"He stood up to Johanna?" Kim said in awe of the man.

"I wouldn't say that exactly. But he did listen to what she had to say about his kitchen."

"His kitchen?" Jess asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you Rick Castle is a five-star gourmet chef. He last cooked at a restaurant in San Francisco near the wharf. The customers raved about everything he created."

"Is he good?"

"I'm not sure. He says that he is and his daughter swears he's talented but I haven't eaten anything of his yet."

"Oh. If he does cook for you I'm sure your friends would love to sample his talents." Kim bluntly admitted.

"Don't hold your breath Kim but I'll see what I can do. Remember I'm the one who's living with him so I get first dibs to taste what he makes for us first."

"Okay, I can agree with that Kate."

Xx

Rick just falls out of his bed trying to reach for his robe as he hits the floor in a heap. He cursed as he hauled his old tired ass back up off the floor. Running a hand through his hair he shuffled his feet towards the door. By the time he gets to the hallway that leads to the staircase, he hears what a sailor should be saying on a ship that has been deployed for months on end. She really needs to watch what she says when she's mad.

"Problem?" Rick asked as he stood there leaning against the doorframe.

Having forgotten all about Rick and thinking that she was alone she stood ready with an answer.

"Yeah there is a problem, I have a medical condition!" Kate told him.

"Kate I'm so sorry. I didn't know. What is this condition?" Rick asked with a serious tone.

"Actually you can. You need to help me find the coffee maker so I can get some caffeine into my body. That's my medical condition, lack of caffeine." She said with a smile.

Rick just looked at her wondering how she would sleep after having a cup of coffee right before she went to bed.

"Tough night Kate?"

"You could say that."

They were both silent until Rick found the Hamilton Beach coffee brew station. She gave him one of the brightest smiles as he walked to the kitchen to brew her a pot.

Both of them sat there drinking coffee and hoping the other would start saying something. Then Rick opened his mouth.

"Kate, I called a contractor to give us an estimate on remodeling the kitchen. I have some more ideas to add to what your mom suggested and he'll be here around noon. After he leaves, I'd like to sit down with you to get your input on his thoughts. Then I would like to see if you can suggest somewhere I can get a job."

"Rick I can help you with the contractor after I get up. As for you getting a job, I have no clue as to where you could look for one." Kate said honestly.

"Okay, Kate. I'm going to get a shower and hit the streets if I want to get back in time to meet the contractor, I need to take a shower now."

"Make sure that you don't give him a cent until the contract is written up to your liking. Alright?"

"Got it."

"If it's alright with you I will take Eli with me when I leave. I figure that Alexis can keep him company while I look for a job."

"That's fine Rick. I'm going to head up to my room and get some sleep. I'll set my alarm for dinner time."

With that said Kate trudges up the stairs to her room saying goodnight to Eli as she passes his room. She can tell that he is awake by the way his body is positioned on the bed. He must have been reading and stopped as she came up the stairs.

"Hey E how was your first night here in your new room?"

"Mom it was great! Rick gave me a clip-on reading light so I can read before I go to bed." He said happily as he pointed to the lamp clipped to his headboard.

"He did, did he? Did you sleep okay?"

"At first, I had a little trouble because it was a different room, but once I fell asleep I slept through the night just fine. Is Rick up yet?"

"He is. Why?" Kate asked.

"Last night after you left for work, he asked us what we wanted for breakfast. He told me and Alexis that he would make it for us."

"I see," Kate said. And at that moment they both heard what sounded like a cast iron skillet hitting the tiled kitchen floor and a few choice words that followed.

"Does that answer your question?"

All Eli did was smile at his mom.

"I'm going to get some sleep E. Please behave for Rick while I do. Be on your best behavior."

"I will mom. I'll work on putting up all my baseball stuff away and hanging some of my posters."

"Good idea. I want to see it when you're finished. But Rick mentioned going out to look for a job. If he does, he'll take you along with Alexis. "

"Okay, mom. I'll be ready."

When her head hit the pillow at eight thirty-five, she was instantly asleep. She dreamed of her friends at work and how they were sampling Rick's cooking at their new house. But what they insisted on was that she should take a shot at maybe dating him. Jess was the only hold out for some strange reason, but Kim and Kenzie kept pushing the issue. All she could do was politely turn down their suggestions. Suddenly the dream came to an end instantly and she woke up in a cold sweat at the sound of her name being called.

"Kate? Are you awake?" Rick asked through her closed door.

"I am now Rick. What's going on?"

"I thought you might be a little hungry. So, I made us something to eat."

"Rick I just laid down ten minutes ago. Can't you give it to the Eli or Alexis? I'm really tired."

Eli and Alexis who were standing there too looked up at Rick with question written all over their faces.

"Kate it's almost six pm. Night time. You know about night time right, it's when the sun goes to sleep and the moon comes out to play."

Alexis and Eli start to giggle and then they all hear the sheets rustle and footsteps coming closer to the door. When it swings open, it reveals a very sleepy Kate.

"What time did you say it was?" Kate asked as she started to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

"It's almost six in the evening," Alexis tells her.

Kate can smell something that smells so good that it has her mouth watering. She raises her head to catch Rick's eyes.

"Kate I made us all dinner. If you want you can come down and eat dinner and then go back to bed. I am not sure how your routine goes after you get home from work, but if you want to go back to bed now, I can put your plate in the fridge for later."

This sweet considerate man. She knew that he would take care of her in some way but she's automatically brought back to her dream she just had. "Go on Kate, take a chance," Kenzie said. "Yeah, Kate the man can cook!" Kim added. It was then when she woke up in a cold sweat.

"Kate are you okay?" Rick was concerned she was just standing there.

"I'm fine Rick. Let me get my robe and I'll be right down." Kate said as she turned back into her room.

When she made it downstairs there was a veritable feast waiting for her. He had prepared chicken cordon blue. There was a side of fresh cut green beans and Brussel sprouts. She'd pass on the sprouts but the dish was still steaming and smelled so good. She ate until her plate was cleaned off completely.

Rick watched her as she devoured her dinner. He was surprised when she cleaned her plate off and looked over to him looking like Oliver Twist asking if he could have more soup to eat. He stood up and got her a second serving. In just about five minutes that was gone too. He was going to enjoy cooking for her.

The contractor that had come earlier gave him an estimate for remodeling the kitchen. His plan was to knock out one wall to give then a larger space to work in. The stove would be relocated to the larger center island that would be installed. Rick wanted a convection oven and a wine cooler installed as well. The contractor agreed with his request and gave his thoughts on the best location to put them in. He'd need to talk to Kate about where they wanted them but he liked the way this contractor thought. He had told Kate that one more contractor would be coming to see the job and after they had his estimate both of them would agree on which contractor would get the job.


	14. Chapter 14

Three weeks later…

It had been three weeks and they had fallen into a good routine together. Kate would come home in the morning after her shift and Rick would tell her about his day the day before as she unwound after a long shift. When he was done, she'd head up to get the grime off her body that the ER caused that day by taking a long soothing hot shower. When she came down from washing up, she sat at the table in a loose t-shirt and leggings and then she was treated to a new dish he made every day. She knew what he was trying to do to her. He was testing a new dish on her to get her reaction on how good or bad it was. The problem was that everything he made was so good to eat she never wanted him to stop. But she couldn't figure out why. By the time she had finished eating and they were done talking it was close to noon and she had her daily shot of caffeine and then he woke her up about an hour before she had to be at work.

Kate had the option to swing her shift to a rotating one, but in the long run, she turned it down. She loved working the overnight and she doubted that she'd ever leave. She was back on a straight five days on and then dropping one day to give her two days off during the week. She'd work Monday through Friday and then have two days off. Start on Monday night and end on a Saturday morning, adding a day each time a week had ended.

But what puzzled her the most was her friend Jessie. He had become more protective of her and she noticed that whenever she mentioned Rick or something he and Alexis had done either for her or just in general to the house, he became more defensive towards her and she wanted to know why.

"Kim, are you going to restock the crash cart?" Kate asked as she rolled it towards the stockroom.

"I will. Kenzie needs it first then I'll restock it when she's finished with it."

"Okay just make sure it gets done before the end of the shift," Kate added.

Xx

"Kate, can you give me a hand with this patent's cast?" Jess asked about an hour later.

"Sure thing Jess." Thinking this might be a good time to talk to him she agreed to help him with his patient.

He had most of the material almost ready for a short arm cast when she walked into the exam room. All they needed was warm water and the patient. Who at the time was talking to the doctor and his parents about what was going to happen next.

He watched her as she pulled the cotton from the drawer and put it next to the fiberglass cast kit. He was itching to ask her his question. So, he did.

"Kate, how is your new housemate doing? Is he getting enough rest when you are home?" Jess asked a little snidely.

He is her friend, but the way he just asked her that question he was implying that Rick was something more than just a housemate to her. So, she answered him with a standard answer when she wanted to keep her private life private.

"How he does is no concern of yours, Jess. And I'd like it if you kept personal questions about my private life to yourself and out of the workplace."

"Really Kate? We've known each other for years and this is how you answer a friendly question?"

"Friendly question? Are you serious right now? You practically accused me of sleeping with him Jess. You've never met him to make an assumption like that."

"Well if the shoe fits…"

"Jess don't you dare finish that sentence. Or else."

"Or else what?"

"Just don't. That's all I'm saying."

Jess walked out of the treatment room to check on what was taking his patient so long and Kate thought it was a good time to retreat. She would send in Kim or Kenzie to help him with the cast.

Xx

God, he's such an idiot. He knew that she was going to move into a new place sometime after her loft burnt up but he never thought it would happen so fast, and with another man no less. Maybe he should have just told her how he felt to start with way back when. Now he knows that comment about her housemate just pushed her that much further away. But now that ship might have sailed.

What he needs to do is apologize to her she is a good friend and he can't lose her as one. He listens to the doctor as he explains what is going to happen to his patient that he is going to put a cast on. The mother is obviously worried about what this will do for his lifestyle but the doctor promises that it won't affect him that much. He'll only need to wear it for six weeks until his bone heals and then it'll come off. Jess rolls the gurney with his patient back in through the treatment room and finds it empty. He pulls the curtain around his patient walks out to the nurse's station and asks where Kate went to. Kim responds with she went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. And that she was to help him with the cast for his patient now.

Xx

Kate walks down to the cafeteria and sees that it's basically the same old stuff just reheated again. They never have a decent selection to choose from for the night shift which is one of the things she doesn't like about this shift. They receive all the left-over day shift food kept warm under heat lamps. She picks six chicken tenders that look like they could have been rocks at one time. Along with this, she selects sweet and sour sauce hoping to mask the taste of the nuggets which she knows will be terrible. She takes a seat at one of the tables and the attempts to eat her dinner. She takes a sip of her water from the bottle to help wash down the tenders.

She is just about to get up from the table when her phone rings. She doesn't recognize the number at first, but then she figures it out. It's the landline for the house so she answers.

"Hello, Rick?"

"Something's wrong. She's not conscious. I can't wake her up. Kate, I need help."

In all the time she knew him she never heard the fear in his voice until this moment.

"Rick tell me what's happening. I need you to describe what's wrong with her to me. Who won't wake up?" Kate asks.

"Kate it's Alexis. She went up to bed about two hours ago and everything was fine. She wasn't complaining about anything and now she won't wake up." Rick rushes out.

Her training had her running through every possible scenario of what could be wrong. So she tried to narrow it down.

"Rick, feel her forehead is she warm to your touch?"

"Yeah, she is."

"Rick lift up her pajama top and see if her abdomen is swollen in any way."

She waits for him to do that and when he returns to the line, he confirmed her fears.

"It looks like she's bloated and it's hard when I touched her."

"Rick don't waste any more time. Get her to Baylor ER right now." Kate practically screamed into the phone.

"Kate? What's wrong with her?" Rick asks.

"Rick there's no time for me to tell you what I think it might be. By the time I did, you could already be here. So move your ass."

He doesn't remember the trip to Baylor at all. He knows his phone is somewhere in Alexis' bedroom. He remembers dropping it on the nightstand as he went to pick her up. After that everything is a big blank. When he did pick her up there was no response from her at all. He rushed out of the house so fast making sure that Alexis was secure in the car, that he forgot all about Eli. He ran back into the house up to his room and shook him violently. When he woke up, he just threw him over his shoulder and started running down the stairs back to the car. Eli still shocked about why he was awoken so roughly wanted to know what was going on.

"Listen Eli there is something wrong with Alexis. I don't know why she isn't waking up. We're going to go see your mom at the hospital."

Eli always wanting to help gave him a shortcut to the hospital that cut off eight minutes from the way he knew how to get there. Not less than twelve minutes later they were pulling up to the ER bay.

Xx

Kate was waiting patiently at the ER doors for any sign of his car. She was ready to run out to the car to get Alexis into the ER to be seen by a doctor. She informed the attending that she was en route to the ER and could she be ready for just about anything that came through the door. She said that she'd be ready.

Then she felt like someone was breathing down her neck. She turns to see Jess right behind her.

Not knowing how to confront him she just comes out and asks.

"Jess, what do you want?"

"Listen, Kate, I need to apologize for my behavior before. I was an idiot…"

Kate not wanting to hear another word cuts him off.

"Jess now is not the time. There are more important issues I need to deal with right now."

"Kate? What's going on?"

She really did not want to get into this right now, not after his earlier remarks about Rick. So, she just bent the truth a little.

"There is a ten-year-old patient coming in with a high fever and she's unconscious."

"ETA?" He asks.

"Unknown at this time. But I'm sure it won't be long."

Just as Jess was going to ask why she was waiting here instead of getting prepared for the emergency he notices an older Ford Taurus as it rips into the ER bay and screeches to a halt. The driver jumps from the car and he is around the front of the car and opening the passenger side door in seconds.

"Any change?" Kate asks.

His one-word answer is 'no'

He carries her into the ER and places her in a gurney. Rick turns to find Kate and she's not behind him so he stands next to his daughter and gently brushes the hair out of her face.

Not ten seconds pass when Kate and the attending doctor enter the exam room. Kate takes Alexis' pulse and other vital information while the doctor checks out Alexis' abdomen. Both women are trying to find out what the issue is until Kate gets an idea.

"Dr. Graff, ultrasound!" Kate says excitedly.

"Excellent thought nurse Beckett."

Dr. Graff rolls the ultrasound machine over to the gurney and turned it on. Squirting the warm gel on Alexis' stomach she places the transducer against her skin. The picture emerges and they both stare at something that they never expected to see in a ten-year-old girl….


	15. Chapter 15

All Rick could do is watch as Kate and the doctor worked on his little girl. She looked so small and so weak lying there on the gurney. He watched as Kate took her vital signs and then had the idea to use the ultrasound machine to get a better look and see what was wrong.

"Kate look there do you see what I see?" Doctor Graff asks her as she moves the transducer around Alexis' abdomen.

"Is that what I think it is? Kate asks.

"Yes, it is. Her appendix has already ruptured. And now the infection is probably seeping into her other internal organs. We need to get her into surgery now!" Dr. Graff ordered.

As soon as she orders that command, Kate had moved the ultrasound machine to the side and was getting ready to grab the bottom of the gurney when she noticed Rick standing there with such a dismal look on his face. He looked like he was going to break down at any second.

"Rick everything's going to be fine. I promise. We're going to get her into surgery now and it will probably take about a good two to four hours to complete. I'm going to scrub in and assist doctor Graff. She knows what she's doing so there is nothing to worry about.

Xx

Sometimes discovering an issue by chance does not prepare you for what the real issue is. Its like when you get into a car accident. You are hit from behind and your car is damaged. You're fine, but your car, not so much. Your car is brought to the body shop and you are given an estimate. It's only after you get the initial estimate that the body shop manager calls you back and tells you that there is more damage after the car has been taken apart.

This is what they find after they cut open Alexis. Her appendix did indeed rupture, but it's what they find after they look deeper into her abdominal cavity. She has what they think is a benign cystic mesothelioma. They need to move fast and get a sample to the lab to confirm what it exactly is. In the meantime, they will remove the ruptured appendix and access if there will be a need to clean her internal organs of the infection that the appendix could have released into them.

"Nurse Beckett, what I need you to do is scrub out and head to the pathology lab with this sample and then wait until they have a definitive answer on what we're dealing with here. In the meantime, I'm going to use the time we have to clean her internal organs. No matter what the case it still has to be done even if the results show that this is an actual cyst."

Kate goes back to the scrub room removes her mask, gloves, and gown and deposits and in the proper receptacles. She's off to pathology with the sample and she stands persistently waiting for that lab tech to finish with Alexis' sample.

It doesn't take that much longer and she has the results in her hand. She heads back to the OR where doctor Graff is just finishing up cleaning her organs that were infected by the burst appendix.

"Doctor Graff" Kate called while holding a surgical mask over her mouth.

"The results the lab came back with was that it was not a cyst but a calcified fatty growth that caused the appendix to burst. So, it is not a benign cystic mesothelioma ."

"Excellent news Nurse Beckett. Now we can sew her up and get her back up to a room. I think it's time that you give her father some good news for a change, don't you?

"I agree with you doctor Graff. Thank you so much for being here when she needed it the most.

"Kate it's what we do."

Xx

Kate was exhausted and wired at the same time. But now is time to give Rick the good news about Alexis. For a brief moment, she wondered if there would be a strained moment between them when she gave him the news. When she left him, he looked like he was going to break down at any second. His elbows were resting on his knees and his head was cradled in the palms of his hands when she left him earlier. She hopes now that he is in a better state of mind after she explained to him what was going on with his daughter. In had been three and a half hours since she saw him last. She presses the elevator call button to take her to the ER floor. The second the doors open he is directly in front of her asking her all sorts of questions from everything to is she alright, to how the surgery went, to when he can see her. She gently takes his hand and pulls him over to the seats that line the back wall of the ER department. She sits him down and calmly pats his one hand with both of hers until she can see that he will understand the information that she will give him.

"Kate, how is she?" Rick asks.

"Rick, she's fine. The surgery went perfectly. She had a growth at the top of her appendix and that caused it to burst. Her appendix became inflamed and filled with pus, containing bacteria, tissue debris, and dead white blood cells. When it ruptured the contents of the appendix seeped into her spleen, stomach, reproductive organs, colon, gallbladder, and kidneys. Dr. Graff needed to wash them off for lack of a better word. While she was doing that, I had the growth tested in the lab to make sure it was not cancerous. It wasn't."

"Kate I don't know how to thank you. I lost it. I didn't know what to do and who could help me that's when I called you."

"Rick, can I ask you one thing?"

"Sure, Kate. Anything."

"Where is Eli?"

Rick turned his head to his left where Eli should have been curled up in a little ball and then remembers that he met Kenzie about an hour ago and she put him in an on-call room across from the nurse's station.

"Kate your friend Kenzie took him to that on-call room so he could sleep for a little while," Rick says as he pointed to the room across from them.

"She's good like that, always looking out for him. Rick, why don't you go back home and get some sleep? I'll sit with Alexis until my shift is over and when I get home, I can wake you up to come back and stay with her. On the brighter side, she will be asleep for the next eight hours or until the anesthetic wears off."

"Kate I can't ask you to do that. I'll be okay with her by myself."

"Rick I'm not asking you to go, I'm telling you to go. Get some rest. Us professionals have it covered. I'll call you if she comes out of it before I leave."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now go, you look like crap."

He gave her a slight smile and thought that maybe a nap might help.

"Okay, you win. But you do promise to wake me up when you get home?"

"I will. Not go." Kate said a little more sternly.

Rick turns and walks through the emergency room sliding doors and out into the pre-dawn Dallas morning. Kate left for the elevator to go to Alexis' floor. On her way, she was stopped by Kim.

"He's easy on the eyes, isn't he?" Kim says.

Kate who is thinking about Alexis at the time startled a little at Kim's sudden comment pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Yes, yes he is. So what about it?"

"Come on Kate do I have to spell it out for you? He's a hunk, He seems like he has a decent personality and he cares about his kid what's not to like?"

"Kim, how long have you known me?"

"I'd say for about eleven years. Why?"

"Well since you do know me so well you know that he is off limits to me so to speak."

"Why is that?"

"Come on Kim seriously ?"

"Kate I am being serious. You two would make beautiful babies together. But hey who am I to have an opinion like that. What I mean is the man is available and so are you. You also both have one thing in common. You both have children. So, why not take a chance, Kate?" Kim said finishing her outburst.

"Kim, do you realize what that would do if we actually started a romantic relationship? Things are just getting along perfectly right now. He does his thing during the day and I do my thing during the night. It's actually quite convenient. I see him for about an hour to when I get home in the morning and then I don't see him until I go to work at night."

"Look, Kate, you know what I think? I think that you're happier now than you were before the two of you moved in together because it seems to me that he is supporting you in everything you do. You might not see it but it shows in your behavior and appearance."

Realizing that this conversation was something she didn't need have at this moment she was saved by the elevator doors sliding open.

"Kim we'll talk later. Right now, I have something very important to attend to. Cover with Doctor Graff for me until the end of my shift because I'll be upstairs with Alexis."

"You got it, Kate. I'll make sure she knows that you'll be upstairs."

Xx

The elevator ride was over before it began and she steps out onto the Pediatric ICU floor. It's an open floor with curtains dividing each individual room. She walks up to where Alexis is lying in her bed and she sees the innocence on her face as she gets closer. Standing at the foot of the bed she pulls up the chart tablet and reads her progress since the surgery.

"I thought I'd find you here eventually."

"Dr. Graf thank you so much for well saving her life. She means a lot to me."

Fran Graff just smiles an award-winning smile. "It's no problem it's what we do here. And I know there's a story between you and her father but that's for another time."

"Yes, another time."

"Well, that would be fine. As you can see, she's doing very well. I'm going to head home get some sleep and be back by ten. If anything pops up just give me a call."

"I will and thank you."

Kate place the tablet back in the holder at the foot of the bed and makes her way to Alexis's right side. She pulls the chair over and sits down and starts brushing her hair out of her eyes. As she does this, she takes her right hand into her left, mindful of the IV that's in her arm and holds on to her tightly. Her thoughts drift back to what Kim said earlier. There's no way that they could be romantically involved, is there?


	16. Chapter 16

It's been two weeks since Alexis had her surgery…

He was nervously rubbing the palms of his hands on his jeans to stop his hands from sweating so much. He sat there in the small office looking at Pamela Martin. She could be the one to break him. He had started talking to Kate about being unemployed, well complaining was more like it, but he could do anything with food. And what he couldn't do he'd learn. That's when she suggested that he go to work for someone until he had enough money saved up to open his own place

"Kate, I thought that the city of Dallas would have more of a selection of work for a chef like myself. But what I'm finding is that they're mostly hiring secondary chefs if that. And there's an abundance of restaurants needing pastry chefs and believe it or not dishwashers."

"Rick I'm not sure what to tell you. Most of these cafes and restaurants have had these chefs working for them for years. You could theoretically open your own place but if it flops, you'll be out all that money. But if it does succeed the sky's the limit."

Thinking back to their conversation from two days ago he had to give her credit. She always looked at the positive in every problem that she faced. And since it involved him, she just extended her scope to cover him as well. He's drawn from his thoughts when he hears Pamela asking something about his last job.

"So Rick I'm not sure that you'd fit with what I have to offer. Jesus is our head chef and he's very good at what he does. Now, do you have any issues with me calling your previous employer?"

"No Pamela I don't. But when I left, we didn't exactly part on good terms. It's not to say that I just up and quit but I was going through a lot of personal issues during that timeframe. Don't be surprised if you hear an earful. I am a good chef though." Rick said the last part proudly.

"Rick as long as you show up for work, I can offer you a third line chef if you're interested. And basically, that's just preparing the appetizers for the clientele that we serve here. I'm not sure if it's what you're interested in but right now that's all I have to offer you."

"Pamela I'm going to have to think about it. Would it be okay if I call you tomorrow after I speak with someone who I trust about your offer?"

"That's fine Rick I have no issue with that. But let me know soon, like real soon."

"Thank you, Pamela, I'll be in touch."

Rick walked out of her office and quickly looked at his watch. Noticing the time, he had just enough of it to get to the store to put his idea in motion. He looked over Pamela's kitchen before he left, then turned and heads for the exit. The kitchen is ideal but he can't really see himself being a third line chef.

Xx

When he left Pamela's he went to an honest to God butcher. Shops like his don't exist that much anymore. Only a chef would know where to find one. People nowadays buy their food from chain supermarkets rather than specialized butchers. He selected four 12 oz cuts of filet mignon. Corn-fed and very, very tender. He watched as the butcher trimmed the cuts of beef there would be no fat on his meat.

He picked out fresh green beans, potatoes for baking, sour cream, chives, bacon, and real butter. He picked up the ingredients for a rub for the meat that his customers in San Francisco raved about. With his timing, he could probably marinate the meat for an hour before cooking it.

He got into his car and started it up but before putting it into drive he noticed a flower shop on the corner. He thought a dozen roses would brighten her day so he shut the car off, got out and locks the door. Then he made his way to the corner flower shop to pick her up some flowers. As he roamed the small shop he wondered. If he thought about it and he thinks about everything would this constitute a date? Giving a woman flowers and doing what he had planned to do for her could be just that. Was that what he was looking for? He didn't know. He went ahead and bought one single yellow rose. Because her friendship, above else, was the best thing that happened to him in a long time.

Xx

He places the rose in a vase filled with water at her place setting on the table. And then he got to work. First, he sets the table for four. Then he started his meal preparations. He infused the meat with his special rub he had created with the ingredients he picked up. It would bring out the best flavor in the meat. Knowing that making noise would probably wake her up he set to his tasks quietly. He decided to grill the meat and prep everything else at the center island. The kitchen remodel went well last week and her mother was right, they do have a lot more room with the expanded center island. This is the best thing they could have done.

He knew he lost track of time when Alexis and Eli walk into the house from school.

"Dad? What are you doing?" Alexis asks.

"Alexis, Eli how was school?" Rick asks as he wipes his hands off on the towel that's draped over his shoulder.

"School was fine dad. But you're avoiding the question."

"No, I'm not avoiding the question. What I'm doing is preparing something special for Kate and you guys as well. This is repayment for what she did when your appendix ruptured two weeks ago."

"So this isn't a date?" She asks questioningly.

"No Alexis this isn't a date. See how many place settings do you see at the table? We're going to sit down and eat a meal together. Talk about our day and see what we might want to do for the weekend." Rick says.

"Rick, does my mom know that you're doing this?" Eli asks.

"No Eli I didn't tell her anything she's been asleep this whole time. It's a surprise!" He said happily.

"Rick, I'm not too sure how this will go over with her. Mom does not like surprises."

It looks like the wind was taken right out of his sails. He looked like he lost his best friend.

"What do you mean she doesn't like surprises? Everyone loves surprises."

"I'm not too sure why she doesn't. But when I was seven, I asked my grandfather and grandmother to take me to a specialty store to buy her a snow globe for her birthday. When we got home my grandparents left and I wrapped her birthday gift and placed it on the table so when we had dinner it would be the first thing she sees. She was upset with the fact that I have left on my own to go to the store to buy her a gift. When I explained to her that my grandparents had taken me, she kind of relaxed. But she was still upset that I didn't tell her what I had done. So, no I don't think she likes surprises either store-bought or thought up as a gesture of thanks."

"Well, I already have the meat prepped and all the vegetables cooking so dinner will be in about a half hour. Why don't you guys start your homework and I guess we'll wake up your mother around five so she can eat dinner with us."

Xx

She wakes up to the smell of something delicious. It's so delicious that her stomach is grumbling and she can't stop it. She gets up out of bed walks to the bathroom and looks at herself in the mirror. It's too early to be up. She takes her robe from behind the door puts it on. Needing to investigate that heavenly smell she starts for the door. Just as she gets to the door, she hears footsteps coming up the stairs and she can guess that is either Alexis or Eli coming to wake her up. She stands at the door waiting for whoever it is to knock.

When she hears a knock on the door, she opens it quickly. Eli who is standing in front of the door it startled at first but sees his mom with bed head hair and sleepy eyes.

"Good morning Mom! You need to get ready and get downstairs. There's a surprise for you."

"Eli there better not be a surprise downstairs for me you know how I hate surprises."

Mom this has nothing to do with me, I know better. I know you hate surprises and I'm not a part of this. Rick on the other hand…"

"Oh no. What did he do now?"

"Actually mom I think its kind of cute. But I'll let him explain to you when you come downstairs. Come on let's go." Eli said tugging her hand.

She can tell that it's not quite five p.m. yet by the position of the sun as she passes the window on the stairway. But the smell drifting up from the kitchen has her intrigued, to say the least. She turns the corner at the bottom of the stairs and sees that the dining room table is set for four. She peers into the kitchens and sees steam rising from the stove. There are three pots on the stovetop each with something simmering in it. On each plate is a garden salad with an assortment of salad dressings on the table. She consciously walks forward standing directly behind her chair and that's when she notices it.

A single long-stem yellow rose.

It unconsciously gets her thinking about why he is doing this. She can't think of anything recently that she could be treated to such an extravagant setting. Staring at the rose just a little bit too long she hears the back door open and he walks through with a plate filled with cooked meat. He's oblivious to her at first, more concerned with dropping the plate on the kitchen floor then to see her standing there. When he laid the plate on the counter he looks up and sees her looking at him.

"Rick, what's going on?"

"Hey, Kate I'm glad you're up. I decided to make you dinner tonight. This is a surprise for you staying with Alexis while she was in the hospital and I got some much-needed sleep. What I have here is a five-course meal. Soup and salad, an appetizer, the main course, and dessert. I know you like your meat medium well and it's cooked that way now. So why don't we get the kids in here and we can sit down to a decent meal."

"Rick before the kids get here, I would like to tell you a little something. What I did for Alexis was something I wanted to do. I don't need repayment in the form of a five-course meal. I really don't like surprises but this one time I'll make an exception for because the food looks delicious. But in the future please talk to me about any surprises you might dream up."

"Okay, Kate. No surprises. Check."

Rick called Alexis and Eli to the table and they all sat down for a filling meal.

Xx

He knew he went about it the wrong way. He sits in his apartment thinking of ways to win her over. She was his to start with. She didn't belong to this new guy. Why couldn't she see that they would be great together? He chugs the last swallow of the tenth beer in the 12 pack he just bought earlier today. He would win her over he just had to figure out how to make her see that she belongs to him…


	17. Chapter 17

He knows what will be good for her. He can feel the connection that they have had since he's been working with her all these years. It's a connection of the heart and he will stop at nothing to get her. All he needs to do is make her see that they will be great together and then she will follow him anywhere. He just needs a plan…

Xx

After another long shift, she was looking forward to getting back home. She misses Eli, Alexis, and Rick. But what she looks forward to the most was whatever Rick wanted to try out on her when she gets home. If she is anything, she is becoming pampered. For the last week, she came home to a different dish for dinner after her shift. After she had a relaxing bath with lavender bath salts that Rick gave her because he said she was worth it, she came back downstairs and was treated to a culinary delight at his hand. He chose a different dish every night and wanted her honest opinion after she was finished. At first, she loved the fact that she is being treated like this but after a couple of days, she starts to wonder why.

"Rick this was the best one yet. What's it called?" Kate asked.

"What you just ate is grilled yellowfin tuna with lemon and garlic. Was it good?"

"It was delicious!" She wanted to know why he was making her all these dishes. So, she asked him.

"Rick, why are you jumping from dish to dish? What I mean is you rotate from a seafood dish to a beef dish then a chicken dish, to a pork dish. Is there a reason why?"

"Kate, can't I just cook for you? I like to cook is that a crime?"

"It is when there seems to be another motive. What's going on Rick?"

He knew that it was too good to last. But at least she gave him her honest opinion about his cooking he needed to explain to her why he was cooking so much for her.

"Kate, the reason I'm cooking such a variety of food is that I am thinking of opening my own place." Rick held his breath hoping for the best.

" I see. All this cooking was a way for you to test out how good your dishes were going to be on my good reviews."

"Well yes, I guess so."

"Okay, I was a guinea pig then?"

"No Kate! I'd never. It's just that I wanted your honest opinion before I decided to move forward with this. And I just want to get everything right."

"Rick, why didn't you just tell me what you wanted to do begin with? I would have understood and you could cook whatever you wanted for me."

"Kate I create in the kitchen. If you haven't noticed I'm just a little bit shy about asking for what I want. But if you put a cut of beef in front of me, I'll make you one of the best meals you could possibly eat."

She couldn't believe that he would think that he was shy when it came to asking for her opinion on something. Maybe he was they've only been living in the same house for a short time now and she really doesn't know all of his quirks yet.

"Okay, Rick. Tell me a little bit more about this restaurant that you thinking about opening up.

"Well, it's going to be large enough to seat at least seventy to one hundred people. This way I can see to it that the menu will be personalized to what I know I can cook. Once I have the menu set up, which is everything, by the way, I plan on searching Dallas for a great location. That's key. Without it, I'll just be another regular run-of-the-mill restaurant."

"I know some people who might be able to help you. Maybe I can give them a call for you."

"Could you Kate? It would be a big help."

"Rick I would do anything to help you out. But please in the future don't be pulling the wool over my eyes just because you're trying to get an honest opinion. Remember what I said earlier about not keeping any secrets from each other? Well, the same thing applies here just try to be honest with me that's all I ask. When are you going to tell Alexis?"

"Probably soon. I have all my finances in somewhat of an order. I have my saved money, the money I made selling the house in San Francisco, and Emily's life insurance policy payment. It might not be able to give me my own space to purchase but I'll be able to lease for about two years before I start feeling the pinch."

"I'm not too sure how much it is to lease for the year Rick but I'm betting it won't be cheap."

"While you were asleep I was able to call some commercial realtors and get some information on properties in the downtown Dallas area that looked pretty nice."

"Oh yeah? Where?" Kate asked.

"Well, the one that I am really excited about is on Thomas Ave. It's two floors with a bar on each floor. The downstairs dining area can seat about fifty to seventy-five people. The upper dining area can seat about twenty to forty. The total square footage is four thousand one hundred and fifty-two. The annual lease payment is one hundred thirty-seven thousand. The only problem is that there are two other eateries close by. The competition would be tough."

"Not necessarily Rick. I know that area and one place is more of a pizza place with a bar and the other is a sports bar type place. The Nodding Donkey I think it's called. I also think that you'll be fine because if what I've been eating over the last few weeks is any indication of what you'll be serving in your new place, you'll rake it in."

"Thanks, Kate. Let me clean this up and you can go catch a couple of hours of sleep before your shift."

"Rick try not to worry. It will work out." Kate tells him as she walks out of the kitchen.

Xx

He has the basics of his plan almost worked out. He has the secluded location, the necessary medication to keep her sedated for a month if need be, all he needs is the time off from work and the exact location to take her. He'll pay more attention to her when she's talking to Kim or Kenzie for something that will get him close to her to take her away from that man whore she's living with in sin. She'll understand when he tells her that they were meant to be together forever, even if it kills them.

He checks the straps that are lashed to the twin sized bed and the chair that's bolted to the floor in front of the table. This will be their home for the foreseeable future. The house is basically sound proofed. Of course, he will let her get some exercise and fresh air that's what the large concrete block and twenty feet of chain are for in the electrified fenced in backyard. He spared no expense in making this their home. He selected a location that's far enough away from civilization that no one will hear her yelling or screaming. She'll see to reason, she has to.

Knowing that she won't see what he has to offer her because her parents will make her see to reason, he will make sure that her parents are met with a horrific accident that could end up killing them outright or possibly requiring a long and guarded stay in the intensive care unit of the hospital. Her brat of a kid will need to be dealt with as well. Maybe he can kill two birds with one stone. Yes, his plans are coming together nicely.


	18. Chapter 18

Kate takes the Tupperware that Rick had made up for her to take work. He told her that even though she slept through their dinner time tonight he would always make her something to eat, and he never failed to do so. He gave her precise reheating directions to heat her meal up and she'll be damned, when she followed his directions the food was just as good as he just finished cooking it as if she were eating it at home.

"Kate, what is that amazing smell coming from the break room?" Kim asks.

"Kim that's my dinner. Rick made it for me."

"God, can he make me something? Whatever that is I want some!"

"Oh no you don't. That's all mine!" Kate threatens.

Kenzie walked into the breakroom after hearing Kate deny Kim of any part of her food and needed to know the scoop.

"So Kate tell us how is Rick nowadays?"

"What's to tell?"

"Oh come on Kate! You can't tell us that there is nothing going on between the two of you. The two of you live together." Kenzie demanded.

"There is nothing going on between us Kenz. He is just very attentive to my needs when I work the night shift. He takes care of his daughter and Eli while I sleep. I'd do the same if the situation was reversed." Kate assured her.

"Kate I just have one question for you well maybe two," Kim asks.

"What the hell are you waiting for woman? He is single right?"

"He is Kim. But we have an agreement. The house is shared by the both of us he has his part and I have mine. It works out fine for both of us and we respect each other."

"Oh come on Kate you can't tell me that you haven't at least thought about anything romantic with this man? He's not gay, is he?"

Kate who was just chewing on a piece of chicken almost choked on it as she swallowed when Kim asked if Rick was gay.

"Kim seriously! The man has a daughter so I would think he is not gay. And it doesn't matter if he was any way if that's his choice then he's entitled to it. There's nothing wrong with it." She reasoned not believing that her friend could be so brash.

"Well if I were you, Kate, I would definitely explore what that man has to offer. You get along good together and even Eli likes him. What could go wrong?"

Xx

He stood in the second trauma room hidden from sight hearing every word they said. He knew that he had to move quickly if he was going to have any chance of salvaging a relationship with her. As crazy it might be, he's a little obsessed with her but he's sure that she'll love him like he knows she will. He waits until he hears them leave the adjacent trauma room and slips out of the office he's in unseen.

He has more than enough drugs to keep her compliant for thirty-eight days. During that time, he'll have her married to him and hopefully carrying his child before he uses the last of the drugs. He can't wait to see her reaction to his plans which he knows she'll love. He makes his way out to his car intending to hide at his secret lair. The second he places his hands on the door handle to his car he's confronted with security guards that have appeared from out of nowhere.

"Jessie Martinez?" The guard closest to him asked.

"Yes, that's me." He says not turning around.

"We need you to step away from the car please." The guard ordered.

Jessie not knowing if he should comply decided not to and grabbed for the car's door handle instead and trying to open the front door. He never opened it.

What he felt next was 50,000 volts of electricity coursing through his body. His whole body was frozen in the position he was in when he reached for the car's door handle. He could see the little sparks of electricity leaving his body and contacting the metal door of the car. Then without warning his body just fell to the ground. The voltage while short in duration had stopped. The next thing he knows is that his arms are being pulled behind his back and he is handcuffed.

"Put him in the back of your cruiser John. We'll interrogate him when we return. In the meantime, we're going to search his car. Ask him if he needs medical assistance because 50,000 volts can leave a mark."

The guard named John places Jessie into his patrol car and then returns to help the other officers in the search of the suspect's car. What they find is way beyond what they expected. In his car, there are torture devices that even shook the seasoned guards. Everything is bagged and tagged as evidence. They also find enough drugs that could keep a normal person paralyzed for hours on end but still be aware of their surroundings. The second the guards found these drugs they immediately stopped their search and secured the scene leaving one guard in place to keep the car secure and advising their Captain.

Knowing that the drugs found in the car had changed the situation, the Captain was informed and then Dallas P.D. were called in to take over. They had to obtain a new search warrant to finish searching the car.

Xx

Kate rethought what Kenzie had said earlier. Was Rick a compatible person to date? She was in her own sense of living day-to-day with him in the house and she loved the fact that he took care of her. But what if she took it one step further? Would he be interested in her as girlfriend material? Or was she getting ahead of herself? She didn't know why Kenzie would have mentioned that he was gay. She had to use the bathroom one day and Rick had just finished up some yard work outside. If she remembers correctly he was working on the fence for the dog they were thinking about buying. He was still in the bathroom washing the sweat and dirt off his body. Knowing that he was in the bathroom she waited. When she saw him open the door to the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist her eyes went wide at the sight of his chiseled body. His body was amazing and from where she was she had a great vantage point of seeing him walk away from her. His ass was well toned and she loved the upper part of his body just as much as the lower half. God did she want him to take her right there in the hallway? She knew he wasn't gay but he had just lost his wife not too long ago. They're kind of in the same boat because she lost her son's father and he lost his daughter's mother. Maybe this was a sign? Or then again maybe her overactive imagination was getting carried away with herself. Either way, she needed more thought on what he could possibly do for her.

Xx

"Captain we'll take custody of the suspect. We will continue the interrogation at DPD headquarters. The car will be flat bedded there as well. This was good work sir, you should be proud of the way your men acted on the evidence and were able to stop anyone from being hurt." The Dallas PD inspector said.

"Than you inspector. But when we found out that there were drugs missing and from different departments no less, we put two plus two together and reviewed the security footage of those departments. It' didn't take long to catch our culprit. I'm only glad that none of our men were hurt."

"Be that as it may Captain, I'm glad that things worked out the way they did."

"What will happen to this man, Jessie Martinez?"

"He'll be brought up on a slew of charges the most serious being attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, and theft."

"Thank you, inspector. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to. The hospital's director wants an update on what happened here."

"I understand. Good day Captain."

The two men shake hands and part ways.

Xx

When her shift is over, Kate leaves the hospital fifteen minutes early. As she crosses the street to parking lot six where her car is parked and a Dallas patrol car slowly passes her. Always being curious she takes a quick look into the back seat and is suddenly shaken at who she sees sitting handcuffed in the back seat. Jessie. She can't understand why he would be in the back of a Dallas police car. Maybe tomorrow she'll talk to someone who she knows that works closely with the director. But the bigger problem she has is the fact that if they are taking him away somewhere now, tonight she will be down a nurse to handle the ER. Maybe she can pull a nurse from NICU or mother-baby to fill his spot.

Being down one nurse won't be the end of the world but it will put more work on herself Kenzie and Kim. That is unless she can get a hold of a spare nurse from another department. She really wishes she knew why Jesse was being taken away. Maybe if she has some time later she will call Kim and asked if he knows anything before she goes to work.

Xx

He's been getting the run around from the money people. He can't understand why he is having such a hard time securing financing for his restaurant even when he's putting down a substantial amount for a down payment. There has to be a better way. The bank manager has been rambling on and on about the best interest rates and terms for the loan for so long he's lost track of what started this conversation in the first place. He has all of his suppliers lined up, his insurance policy in place, and he has even changed the layout of the first floor to be more inviting. Which means the bar was moved to the opposite side of the restaurant. Being that the second floor was smaller and didn't need an overhaul he kept it the way it was because it worked well.

For some reason, he has a feeling that something is wrong with Kate but can't put his finger on it. He was gone before she will get home this morning so he didn't see her. The kids were on automatic pilot and were able to get themselves ready for school on their own. Kate knew that he was leaving earlier than usual so she'd left work about fifteen minutes earlier to make sure the kids were on time for school. He wonders what kind of relationship she had with Eli's father and if he is still alive. He doesn't know anything about her past and would really like to know more. Maybe a talk with her father might reveal some of her past but he doesn't know if it's right to go to him to ask about her life. She could get upset and that's the last thing he wants to do to her.

"So you see Mr. Castle this is what we're up against. The finance company wants sound assurances that you will be able to pay the lease fee of $137,500. In doing that they requested fifty percent down and payment at close to six thousand dollars a month. That would include taxes, fees, and the lease itself. Now my question to you is are you able to afford the $68,750 right now? Because if you are, we can sign the paperwork today."

Rick the sat back in the chair mentally calculated his financial availability. His bank account held more than enough money to pay the $68,000 and the first year's rent at almost six thousand a month. In reality, he could probably pay for the first three years instead of the two that he originally thought.

"I can and will be able to pay that amount but I do have a question."

"Go ahead Mr. Castle ask your question." The bank manager said.

"I am assuming since I am new to the area that I would be a risk no matter what finance company I signed with is that correct?"

"Mr. Castle you know I cannot answer that question. That would be a violation of ethics."

"Okay then answer me this, if I decide to go ahead and renew the lease for this property in the second year am I required to put down another $68,750 for a fifty percent down payment of the annual lease? Or am I going to be able to roll over the total amount into a monthly payment?"

"Mr. Castle I think I know what you're driving at. And it's safe to say that if your lease payment is promptly in the office and on time, I'm sure that you would be able to work something out with the next year. I'm not saying that you're a risk because I don't know your total financial background but let's just say the lease company is protecting their property. I can put a good word in asking them to forgo the deposit for the next year if you are agreeable to that."

"I am and I would greatly appreciate it if you could do that for me. So now I'm going to have to draw a cashier's check out for the amount of $68,750. I can have this to you later on this afternoon."

"Mister Castle that will be fine. I will await your return."

Rick and the bank manager shake hands and conclude their business. Now that he's the owner of a restaurant in Downtown Dallas he needs to get to work quickly. He doesn't have much time if he wants to start making money and they'll need to talk to Kate, Eli, and Alexis about what just happened here today.


	19. Chapter 19

She was in the dark information wise and she hated the feeling of being this way. Her contact in the director's office would not say one word about why Jesse Martinez was taken away by the police. Having slept later than she should have today, she should have made it a point to get up a little earlier to talk with Kim about what she might know. When she did get a hold of her, Kim was just as baffled as she was. What she doesn't know is why they would have taken him away in handcuffs from the hospital. But something deep inside her soul tells her that she's better off not knowing why he was removed albeit forcibly.

She and Rick have an agreement together that lying to each other would not be tolerated when they agreed to move in together, ever. So, when she arrived home this morning, she told him exactly what happened to Jessie from what she noticed this morning at the hospital and he made her something to eat before she shuffled off to bed.

Xx

"Maybe he had many unpaid parking tickets that produced a warrant for his arrest?" Rick tossed out when she came back down from sleeping all day.

"Rick, I'm not too sure about that because he seemed to be very pissed off if anything but I'm not sure why. Have you been thinking about this all day?"

"I have been. Maybe later tonight when you go back to work you can talk it over with Kenzie and Kim. They even might have some ideas. I am just a little curious about why he was taken away. But now Kate, it's time for you to eat my latest creation. I did my job by feeding you and making sure you have everything you need before you go to work. I even have a mid-shift snack for you in a container in the fridge so don't forget it when you leave.

"I don't have everything I need Rick. I just need you."

God, what in the world just came over her? Why would she even think something like that? They were sharing a home together there is no need to be telling him about what she needs. It would be horrifying is she actually said it out loud. Luckily though, she only thought it in the privacy of her own head.

Rick was standing with his back to her washing the dinner dishes they used while she was sitting at the table. Even with the sound of the water hitting the dishes and utensils, he still heard what she said. There was no mistaking it. He became stone still not moving a muscle. Hearing what she said in his mind he deliberated if he should say anything to confirm what she said but then thought that it might embarrass her, but he needed to know what she meant by it.

"Kate, tell me something."

"Sure Rick what's on your mind?"

"I have a lot on my mind, Kate," Rick says as he turns around from the sink water still running. When he was facing her, her face had the look of question all over it. Maybe he should tell her that she said something.

"What do you think of me, Kate?"

"What do you mean Rick?"

"What I mean is do you find me desirable?"

Why is he asking me this? I wish he'd stop trying to make me admit what I'm feeling towards him. It's like he can read my mind or something.

"I'd say that you'd have no trouble finding a decent woman. So yeah you are a desirable man." Kate said trying to deflect her feelings away from this conversation.

"Kate are you sure about that? What I mean is are you sure that you have everything you need? You wouldn't need someone like me?"

What the hell? How did he know what I was just thinking ten seconds ago?

Her cheeks started to turn pink and she looked up at him with a chagrined look on her face.

"Rick do you have some form of Extra Sensory Perception? You know, ESP?"

"Not at all Kate. All I had to do was listen. Does that count?"

"Listen? To who…"

"Oh god no! I said that out loud didn't I? The part about me needing you I mean."

She watched as he nodded and moved to sit across from her at the table. She waited for him to say something, something that she probably deserved.

"Kate you know an attraction between us is nothing to be ashamed of. I know that at times I can be irresistible." Rick flexed his bicep and gave her a small smile letting her know that he was only joking, or was he?

Deciding to test that theory she lets her hand drift to the table not far from his still flexing arm. She watches to see if he takes the hint.

Rick watched as she tested the waters. He knew that she felt something for him but wasn't sure until her hand entwined with his then he knew.

Xx

"She'll be fine with it Eli. Why do you doubt her?"

"Alexis it's a school night to start with. Then we will have the project to work on tonight. We won't have the time to get anything done on it."

"Why don't you just ask her before you get too worked up. She might surprise you."

Alexis had been wanting to see Ralph Breaks the Internet but it was a PG-13 movie and she thought that her dad will let her see it but she still was not sure. She wants Eli to go with her because seeing a movie alone really sucks. She's grown out of the G rated movies, of course, and wanted Kate to drop them both off at the theater tonight and have her dad pick them up when the movie was over. They walked towards the house from their school bus stop thinking about many things as they kept walking.

"Alexis you don't understand. She won't let us go by ourselves."

"Eli just ask her please."

By the time they get to the side door of the house, Alexis gets to the door first. What she sees is her father and Kate making out at the kitchen table. Stopping so abruptly at the door so she won't be seen by them, Eli runs into her back almost knocking her forward into the kitchen door.

"Alexis! Why'd you stop short?" Eli asks a little annoyed.

"Quick let's go to the front door to come in through that door. This way we can let them become more presentable."

Eli not having a clue as to what she meant looked at her funny.

"Presentable? Why would they want to do that?"

Alexis just raised her hand towards the door indicating that he should look through the window for himself. Then he did look through the window and could not believe what he was seeing. Just as he was about to say something Alexis pulled him away towards the front door of the house.

"They were kissing each other Alexis!" Eli stated loudly.

"Eli, you've had health class, right?" She asks him.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Did you happen to fall asleep when the teacher was talking about how boys and girls express how they feel towards each other?"

"No. but she's my mom! Why is your dad kissing my mom?"

"Boys! Sometimes they can be so stupid." Alexis says as she opens the front door and shouts out a little too loud that they were home.

"Dad, Kate we're home."

Xx

Rick was too stunned to keep going but he just had to. His daughter just walked into the house while his tongue was comfortably exploring Kate's mouth. So much so that he didn't want to stop. But he had no choice when Kate withdrew her mouth from his. When he opened his eyes, hers were still closed and he loved the look that she had on her face. It was one of content like she didn't have a care in the world. Alexis and Eli walked into the kitchen.

"Dad, I was wondering if Eli and I can go to the seven thirty show of Ralph Breaks the Internet tonight?" Alexis asked when she walked into the kitchen catching Kate's eye.

Rick just sat there not entirely hearing her question but instead acting like a fish out of water with his mouth opening and closing trying to get his brain to engage.

"Alexis, how are you two going to get there?" Kate finally asks knowing Rick was currently having trouble piecing a one syllable word together.

"I was hoping that you could drive us and dad could pick us up when it's over," Alexis asks hopefully.

"I'm leaving for work in about a half an hour, is that good enough?"

"That's fine Kate and thank you."

Alexis and Eli turn around and walk out of the kitchen and head up to their rooms. Kate, on the other hand, looks at Rick and she thinks that he has lost whatever shred of decency he had left.

"Rick, what's going on?" Kate asks.

Finally able to put a coherent thought in his brain he comes out with,

"Kate we were almost caught in the kitchen making out! My daughter almost caught us don't you think that's cause for alarm?" Rick says.

"Rick we weren't almost caught and what does it matter anyway? You do like me, don't you?"

"I do Kate very much so!"

"Then when the time is right, we will tell our children when we decide what we feel for each other. Until then we'll just keep what we have to ourselves until we're ready to share it with them."

"I'm just glad we weren't caught red-handed."

Xx

"So Alexis when are we going to tell them what we saw?"

"Eli, have you lost your mind? We'll let them tell us on their own. Sure we might have seen them making out in the kitchen but it will be embarrassing if we confront them with it before they tell us. Let's just take it day by day."

"Alexis I can't unsee what I saw at the kitchen table. But I guess I can file it away to a place in my brain where I don't remember it again...ever."

Thirty minutes goes by and Kate is ready to go to work.

"Alexis sweetie I'm getting ready to leave for work. I just wanted to let you know so that I can drop you off at the Cineplex. Oh yeah and don't forget to hit your dad up for some money. I'm going to give Eli twenty dollars so I suggest you get the same amount from your father. That should be enough for a ticket and popcorn and candy."

"Thanks, Kate. We'll be right down."

Alexis wants to so badly ask Kate what happened in the kitchen today but then remembered her own words from earlier. So she sits in the front seat across from Kate and keeps quiet. Before she knows it, Kate is pulling up to the theater and they get out.

"Alexis just give your dad a call when the movie is over and he will come and get you right where I'm dropping you off."

"Thanks, Kate for everything and I'll call Dad when we're done."

"Okay guys have fun tonight I'll see you tomorrow morning before school. Bye."

"Bye Mom, bye Kate." Is said together by both children.


	20. Chapter 20

The grand opening has been anything anyone in the city of Dallas could talk about. Certain demanding foodies and skeptical critics were invited to a pre-opening for the newest eatery in the center of Dallas. Kate's Dining Room was what most people thought would be a run of the mill basic restaurant. What they weren't prepared for was the quality and creativity that emerges from beyond the double kitchen doors.

"John this salmon is something else! I've never tasted the sauce that its smothered in."

"Mary you should have ordered the steak! It's out of this world."

He'd been hearing the raves all night. What he needed was Kate to be here by his side. He knew that she tried to get the night off at the last minute but the DFD was staging a mock airplane crash with local volunteers as "victims". They had planned for this way in advance and Kate had totally forgotten that tonight was the night they were conducting the drill.

Xx

"Kim, can you believe this crowd? I can't believe that this many people would come out and watch the Dallas Fire Department run a mock plane crash." Kate says.

"Yeah but Kate get a load of that hunk of a firefighter! Isn't he dreamy."

"Dreamy? Kim are you back in the '50s or something? No one says that anymore. But he is a hunk." Kate says knowing that she is missing someone far more than some hunky firefighter.

"Kate, Kim come on we're needed by the back of the plane. One of the volunteers slipped coming down the staircase." Kenzie tells them.

Kate and Kim rush to the rig and grab the necessary kits for just about anything they might face. When they arrive, there are two DFD firefighters keeping the patient calm until they arrive.

"Sir, can you tell me what happened?" Kenzie asks.

"How about if I just show you? The man replies making the motion for them to look at his leg.

Kate and Kim see that the patient has a compound fracture of his left tibia fibula.

"I don't want to know how that happened. But we'll get you stable and transported to the hospital in no time."

Xx

He knows that he is doing this because it's what he loves to do. He creates and with that he sees all the smiling faces as they leave his restaurant. He kept the menu limited tonight for two reasons. First, he was the only person preparing meals for the people who came to eat tonight. And secondly, he had new staff he wanted to watch to make sure they were up to his standards. At times it was hectic making sure that every meal was prepared correctly and garnished appealingly. He never had one complaint come back to the kitchen. He had been graced with luck when he placed an ad for a dessert chef and a second line chef. Everything seems to be flowing well and Jake made suggestions that made it even work out just a little better. The kitchen was running at optimum performance. By the time 11:30 pm came they were just finishing up the last reservation and he himself was beat. It's the one thing he didn't like about cooking. The process it took to prepare everything and make sure it was perfect was all time consuming the last time he looked at his watch it was 7:45. Now he needs to get his ordering done for tomorrow morning, clean the kitchen, and make the bank deposit. Instead of doing that he decides to venture out into the dining area on the first floor and see who is still here. When he steps out, he sees what he thinks to be is the mayor of Dallas.

"Good evening Mayor Rawlings." Rick addresses.

"Good evening. I'm sorry but I'm at a loss. You know my name but I don't know yours."

"I'm sorry sir my name is Rick Castle and I own this establishment."

"Well, Mr. Castle it's finally nice to put a face to this establishment." Mike Rawlings says as he extends his hand for a handshake.

"And this must be your lovely wife Micki," Rick says.

"I see you've done your homework Mr. Castle and yes you are right this is my wife Micki." The Mayor confirms.

"Good evening Mr. Castle it's so nice to meet you. I'd like to say that you have a very fine-looking establishment here, one that we will undoubtedly be visiting again in the near future."

"I'm glad to hear that. I try to make my diner's experience one that they will remember for a long time."

"Well, Rick you've certainly done that here." The mayor said as he pointed to a plate full of ribs minus the meat.

"These were some of the best-tasting ribs that I have ever had. They were so tender that the meat fell right off the bone keeping me from getting my hands that dirty. But in all honesty, this meal was well worth the price you charge.

"Thank you, mayor. And please tell your friends about my place."

"You bet I will! Thank you for a great evening, Rick."

"It was my pleasure."

Xx

As Kate pulled into the driveway and parks her SUV, she sees that Rick's car is already there. This means she knows that a great meal will be waiting for her the second she walks into the house. On her way to the kitchen entrance, she sees today's newspaper lying near the door. Looking at the front page it's the usual Dallas news on the front page. Opening the paper to the lifestyle section as she walks up the stairs, she sees Rick and the mayor of Dallas staring right back at her in a picture from last night. In the picture, they are shaking hands in front of his new place and he looks happy, very happy. Taking a second to open the kitchen door she walks through and is immediately saddened. What she should be smelling is something that would knock her socks off, but instead the kitchen is odorless and empty. The kids have come and gone and she is alone. She places the newspaper on the kitchen table and starts looking for her housemate. She's not worried but nothing is as it usually is when she gets home in the morning so she decides to scope it out. She walks through the first floor and into the living room and sees nothing. Deciding to go to the second floor She climbs the stairs checks Alexis's room and finds it empty. Knowing that he wouldn't be in Eli's room she bypasses that and goes to her room. When she gets there nothing is out of place now she's starting to get a little bit worried. His car is here but she can't imagine where he is. She does the last thing she doesn't want to do. She walks over to his bedroom and quietly as possible she opens the door. What she sees when she finally does get the door open is that he is lying on the floor. She can't imagine why he'd be on the floor with such a comfortable bed but then again maybe he fell out? She doesn't know. But the second she attempts to close the door she hears in what must be a very quiet whisper,

"It's okay Kate. They'll be leaving very soon and then we can get back to what makes us happy."

The second she hears this come out of his mouth her face reddens. They haven't been intimate yet but they're right on the edge of doing something soon. She hates to admit it but he is one of the best kissers she has ever had the joy of kissing. He treats her like she is a goddess. And she really wants to make something work with him but is afraid to take up a position to be with him. She's afraid that something like Jesse could happen if she does decide to start something with him. About a week ago she found out exactly why Jesse was hauled off and sent to jail. He was obsessed with her. And now that she knows he was a nut case, she's very gun-shy about the man in her life. But she knows Rick and it's just that one little step she needs to take in order for them to become a couple but it's hard for her to make that step forward. It's not to say she's getting better at showing how she feels towards him but making out once or twice a week is getting kind of old for her she wants to move to the next level. She's pretty sure that the kids would not mind seeing if they were a couple and maybe tried to become a family unit. Because in reality they're all already there. Rick helps Eli with his homework and they play catch in the backyard and do guy things together and she helps Alexis with girly stuff that Rick could not be anywhere near interested in. When in reality they basically are a family unit now. Then she hears it.

"Kate, what's going on what's wrong?" Rick said as he bolted upright into a sitting position on the floor.

"Rick there's nothing wrong I was just missing my daily meal that's all. You usually have it all made up for me by the time I get home from work."

What she sees next is Rick trying to get up from the floor. He's not very steady about it. That's not what bothers her, well not exactly bother her but it shocks her a little bit because Rick went to bed naked. And if she's guessing right, he forgot that he went to bed with nothing on. Because it seems to him that he's just carrying on the conversation they were having when she was standing at his door.

"Kate I am so sorry I just forgot all about your meal this morning. By the time I got in from closing the restaurant up, and making the bank deposit, and ordering the food for today it was pretty close to 4:15 this morning. I can run downstairs right now and whip you up something really quick. I can probably have something ready to eat in about 5 minutes if you're willing to wait." Rick says apologetically.

Kate just stood there trying not to giggle because Rick was still carrying on like he was dressed. She kept looking at his lower region and smiled widely because he was very well hung and if this was something she had to look forward to she didn't mind watching what he has to offer a little longer at his expense. As he walked up to her he stopped about a foot in front of her and said,

"What?"

Not being able to keep it in any longer she finally busted out laughing. Between laughs, she finally told him that he wasn't wearing anything.

"As much as I'd love for you to make me something to eat I would rather you do it with some clothes on. But from where I stand the view is quite delicious."

Rick who had the modesty to drop his hands and cover his private parts started turning beet red in seconds.

"I am so sorry. I never knew I didn't put anything on last night when I collapsed exhausted in bed please forgive me."

"Trust me, Rick, there is nothing to forgive. I'm glad that I got a little preview of what might be coming up in the future."

Rick walks to the side of the bed fumbling for his boxers and said,

"Kate you have no idea."

"Oh yes I do Rick I can pretty much guess."

Rick did end up fixing something for Kate to eat that was quick and she was very happy with what he made her. But now sitting on the edge of her bed in her bedroom all she could do was think of how his beautiful and extremely wide and long manhood looked. She had no doubt that he knew how to use what he was born with and she wanted to have him take her right now. She knows that they haven't reached that step yet and she strips down to nothing. She slides under the covers and pleasures herself with thoughts of him. She has a mind-blowing orgasm with his naked body in the forefront of her mind. She's also quite when she comes because she is very loud and she doesn't want Rick to come up to her room to ask if she's alright. Soon after she's finished, she sleeps the entire ten hou


	21. Chapter 21

The restaurant was drawing in Dallas's elite. But more than that it was becoming the city's major hot spot for a great meal and casual conversation. If there was one thing Rick needed to ensure it was that anyone and he meant anyone who ate here did so without the threat of any paparazzi hanging around his establishment trying to get a scoop on who was here. The fanfare has died down since the restaurant opened but there are still some paparazzi who do decide try and get into the establishment to get that elusive shot. For the first week or two, he actually had a bodyguard here to keep out the riffraff. Before he had the bodyguard posted at the front door, two vultures somehow got into the dining room and took pictures of Sandra Bullock and her children Louis and Laila while they were all eating dinner. He did his best to provide cover for her so she wouldn't get trampled by everyone who wanted her autograph right after and she understood that this kind of thing does happen but he was still upset that her meal was interfered with. He still felt guilty that she was hounded the way she was and decided to do something about it. He had her phone number and called her and told her that her next meal was on the house whenever she decided to show up. He must have said the right thing because the next week she was back. She had ordered the surf and turf which he personally served to her after he finished making it.

She requested the chef to come out and talk to her and Rick went out into the dining room and greeted her at her table.

"Hi, I'm Sandra."

"Hello, Ms. Bullock. Can I hope that everything was to your liking tonight?"

"Rick, this was the most tender cut of meat that I've ever had and please call me Sandra. This lobster was so succulent that I was upset to find out that I finished the entire meal and hoped that there was more."

"Sandra if you want more just say the word and I'll head back into the kitchen and make it for you. Remember meal this is on the house tonight." Rick said.

"That's fine Rick I've eaten enough. But I wanted to thank you for the extra security measures you had in place. Not necessarily for me, but for everyone who wants to enjoy a good meal with no interruptions."

Rick knew that she was happy with what he had provided for her and in all honesty, he would have provided it for anybody who came to his establishment. People should be able to eat without having to look behind their backs to see if someone is taking their picture. He graciously thanks her for coming to his place and takes a look around at who is left. But now that the evening dinner rush was just about over and the number of diners in the restaurant was minimal, he had decided that everyone in the kitchen needed some time off.

Xx

Kate had the night off and she would probably be waking up around now. He checked his watch one last time and it was he looks through the double doors to the kitchen seeing just one lone couple finishing up their meal. Sandra and her entourage have long since gone. And once the last party was gone, the restaurant he was closed for the rest of the night.

He had decided on white roses. He doesn't know why but he likes the white rose that the florist had shown him. He immediately thought of Kate when he saw the rose because it was flawless as she was. He ordered three dozen and had them delivered to the house. He has a great idea for using them he can only hope to pull it off in time. He knows that Kate has the night off tonight and she will laze around in her bed until he gets home.

They had a very well-oiled machine set up when it came to the kids. Rick had cooked for Kate when she got home from work in the morning. He did it because he loved seeing the look on her face when he gave her something new to try and he knew that she had a nutritious meal in her stomach. After he left for the restaurant Kate would make sure that Alexis and Eli had their homework assignments completed, their lunch was made or money was given to each of them to buy lunch. When they were ready to go, she drove them to school. When he had the lunch rush taken care of, there had been a lull in between the lunch and dinner crowds. He hung up his apron, got into his car and made it over to the kid's school just in time for the last bell to dismiss them from class. He got them home, set up something easy for them to take out of the oven and made back to the restaurant to start the evening meal. Once he was finished with cooking the last guest's meal for the night, he had José clean up the kitchen, place the orders for the following day for meat, fish, and veggies so all he had to do is pick it up at the market the next day and then he left for home.

Xx

By the time he gets home, his accomplices are ready and waiting for him to arrive at the back door.

"Hey, dad. Hi Rick." Both Alexis and Eli say to him as he walks through the door.

"Hi, guys. Have we got everything ready for tonight? And is Kate still asleep?"

"We do and she is. There was a delivery of roses and we had the delivery guy put them in the living room." Alexis said.

"Very good. Can you guys set two arrangements on the dining room table for me? And then I will get started in the kitchen."

Alexis and Eli take each of the vases and position them on the dining room table and head into the kitchen to give Rick a hand.

"Dad, what do you want me to do with this flour?" Alexis asks.

"Sift about a half of a cup and put it into the gravy juices."

While Alexis is doing that Eli is setting the table for the four of them. He has everything almost ready he only needs the crystal glasses and the silverware.

Rick is tending to the last phases of the lamb he has in the oven and to his delight, it's finished. He pulls put the lamb roast adds the vegetables and sets everything on the dining room table. The roses are opening nicely and the food smells delicious. Knowing that they are ready he turns to go upstairs and wake up Kate. But before he leaves he gives the kids one last task.

"Eli in my commuter bag I have a banner. Can you and Alexis hang it over your mom's chair so it faces out when she comes into the dining room?"

"Sure thing Rick." Eli and Alexis pull out the banner from his bag that says Happy Birthday and proceeds to hang it over his mom's chair. It's hung by the time Rick and Kate get down into the dining room. Knowing that she would look at what they were doing he pulls out a napkin from the restaurant and ties it around her head covering her eyes. Rick quickly joins the kids at the end of the table and then they shout "Happy Birthday." Kate removes her blindfold and is inescapably brought to tears with the effort and time they all went to make her day so special.

"Guys this is amazing! Thank you all so much!"

"Mom Rick made your favorite dish," Eli told her.

He did, did he? Kate looked over to Rick and could see he was shaking his head in an up-and-down fashion.

"I did Kate your kid is very knowledgeable about what you like and don't like. He told me that your mother made this for you when you were younger so I figured I would give it a shot."

Without even thinking about it Kate and asked Rick,

"Well if you know what I really like Rick did you remember the one thing that will make this meal complete? What will make it special for me?"

"Kate seriously? How could I ever, ever forget the mint jelly? That practically makes the meal. So why don't you just take a seat and I will show you how much work I put into this just for you." Rick said.

Rick left the kids in Kate to sit at the table. This was his show when he was going to pull everything together right now. He grabs the oven mitts to pick up the lamb that he had spent hours preparing. He brings it through the kitchen door into the dining room and automatically he can see her nose trying to sniff out what it is. She's cute actually, but he has the upper hand because it's covered and he won't let her know what it is until he sits down with her. Next, he brings out the vegetables, and the bread, and something for everyone to drink. Once that is finished, he sits down across from her and says,

"Happy Birthday Kate this meal is for you." He motions his arm over the spread in front of them.

Eli and Alexis start clapping enthusiastically and he wants them calm down so he can start serving the meal and eat while it's still hot.

During the meal, he talked about how well they becoming a family. Rick can't really believe it but what Eli is saying is true. They are blending into a family unit and he really does like the way that they're moving forward.

Xx

Kate, on the other hand, can't believe that Rick actually went to all this trouble just for her birthday. But she does realize that he knows she only turns 35 just once maybe that's why he wants to make it so special.

The meal they eat is delicious. When they're done with that, they have another surprise for her. Kate is amazed to see that Rick, Eli, and Alexis have all gotten her gifts. She's sitting at the head of the table and they return with two presents each. Within seconds she rips through Eli's gift wrap paper and sees then he got her tickets to a Texas Ranger game for the four of them. Alexis got her a bracelet in matching necklace both with her birthstones on it. She is watching Rick oddly when it's time to give her his gift. She notices the box moving a little as if the gift was a gag gift and maybe it is so she goes along with it. By the time she gets to ripping off the gift wrap on Rick's gift, she is speechless at what she sees when she looks inside the box. Inside the box is a puppy.

"Rick, is this a Husky?" Kate asks still not believing that he wrapped up a dog for her.

"She is. An Alaskan Husky to be exact. She was bred for pulling sleds. But she was being treated inhumanly so I rescued her from a shelter."

Kate can't get over the fact that anyone would treat a puppy this way. She was so small and defenseless.

The table is cleared and Rick serves dessert. Kate, Eli, and Alexis all finish the sweet apple pie topped with ice cream in record time and have seconds. The dog is nipping at their pant legs playfully and she realizes that there is nothing better in her life right at this moment.

A/N: Next up is the last chapter.


	22. Chapter 22

Caution: Rated M

She's in heaven! Or if she isn't there, she never wants to leave the comfort of his arms. He had taken every phase of her birthday to heart. After they ate that excellent dinner, he had the children give her their presents. She had received tickets for each of them from Eli for a Rangers game in a month's time. Alexis had given her a matching bracelet and neckless. It was a pretty set and she would cherish them. Then he gave her the present from all of them. Her Alaskan Husky puppy. She was adorable, and she would fit in well with their zany family. When she was finished with the opening of gifts, Rick sat across the table and just observed her.

Getting up he had one more gift to give her.

"Kate, I need to take care of your last gift so if you could excuse me for the next five minutes, I will prepare it for you." Rick told her.

Thinking that all her gifts were given to her she nods to Rick. And then she wonders what else he could have for her.

Rick, Alexis, And Eli had this part of the gift figured out already. He felt a little bad for what he was making them do but he did agree that it was the right thing to do. Eli was sleeping over a friend's house. Alexis was invited to a birthday party sleepover. Both were not far from the house and Rick walk them two each of their events. He was ahead of the game by far because he had already set up the bathroom and the bedroom with everything he needed. Making sure that the children were received at their individual destinations he turned around and came back to their house.

To his surprise, Kate didn't move from the kitchen table. So, the second he was through the kitchen and into the dining room he extended his hand in her direction and lifted her from her seat.

Looking at him now childless her brow raises almost to her hairline.

"Rick, where are the kids?"

"Kate I promised the kids are in safe hands. Tonight, it's all about you. So, Miss Beckett, I need you to follow me."

Rick turned away from Kate and pulled her with him upstairs. When he got to the bathroom he stopped and turned to her.

"Kate this is all about you. This is a part of your birthday gift that I thought really hard about. Now the second we walk through the bathroom door everything changes and for the better. I hope."

Kate had never seen Rick this serious before ever she knew something was about to change between them but didn't want to assume anything.

"Okay, Rick. Whenever you're ready I'll take that step with you."

All we could do is smile as he opened the door. He gently pulls Kate through the doorway and closes the door behind them.

"I know we've never been intimate Kate but I'm going to need you to strip down to your birthday suit. And it's fitting because today is your birthday." Rick even chuckled at his own joke.

She was skeptical at first but once she saw what was set up in the bathroom she understood why he wanted her naked. In the center of the bathroom which wasn't that big at all, there stood a massage table complete with trays of warm oil. When she looks back up to him his back was to her and she knew he was being the gentleman she always knew him to be not wanting to see her nude form.

She stripped down to nothing got on the table face down placing her head in the opening resting against the towel. The next thing she feels is a short towel covering her ass. The leather of the massage table is sinfully soft and if she's not careful she could fall asleep here.

"Kate what I'm going to do for you now is a deep tissue massage. I should be able to make it through the whole massage without brushing against any of your ticklish spots. It's at any time you feel uncomfortable just tell me and I'll stop instantly."

Rick heard something like a muffled 'okay'. He rubs his dry hands up and down her calves, thighs and her back and along her arms before he actually picks up the eucalyptus oil. He loves the smell of this oil and if he were a woman, he would be using it every day. He takes a generous amount applying some to his hand and gets to work. From the book he read he started with her mid back and shoulders first. Once he was complete with that he moved to her limbs. He started with her left arm first working out to the hand and massaging that as well. Then he moves to the right arm biceps triceps and hand as well working the muscles to be as loose as possible. Reapplying more eucalyptus oil to his hands he then starts on her legs. He stops and stares just for a moment because her legs are non-stop, they are beautifully toned and for what he can tell must be strong. It takes a step closer and starts up by her left thigh and kneads the muscles of her leg. He can tell that she must do a lot of walking during her day because her muscles in her legs are the tightest in her body. He spends about fifteen minutes on each leg and by that time is finished he thinks she's asleep on the table.

"Kate are you still with me?

"Rick I don't know how you do it but if you kept this up, I would have fallen asleep here. Where'd you learn how to do this?"

"I went to the library and checked out a book on sensual massage. This is what I took away from it."

Just as Kate was about to answer saying that it was the best massage she had ever had in her life, she changed her mind and told him it was the only massage she ever had. But as she was going to open her mouth so she could thank him, his hand recoated with eucalyptus oil moved closer to her womanhood. He brushed his finger along her outer lips and it sent shivers up and down her spine. She never felt anything so supercharged as this. She felt like her body was on fire.

Rick just wanted to tease her a little bit before he rolled her over on her back. Feeling a little bold he placed his finger on her clit and slid it up and down a couple of times. This new the action had the desired effect on her because he saw her physically shiver.

The next thing she felt was a pair of strong hands grabbing her hip and shoulder in a rolling motion. Knowing that he needed help to roll her over she propped herself up on her elbow and turned over making it easier for him.

Rick had always been an ass and leg man. There was just something about a pair of legs wrapped around his head that he could never ever get over. But by the time he got Kate rolled over on the massage table on her back he was staring at the most perfect pair of breasts he had ever seen his life. They were beyond beautiful. Even though he was an ass man he couldn't wait to get his mouth of one of her nipples and suck on it to his heart's content. When he looked further south, he noticed that she was completely shaved. He would enjoy pleasing her there later.

She opened her eyes and saw him just gaping in her. She was about to raise her arm to cover her breasts and place her hand over her private area when his hand darted out and stopped her movement. He looked her straight in the eye and said,

"You are so beautiful Kate. Your body is like a canvas that needs to be painted."

Kate places her hands back to her sides where they were and looks into Rick's eyes. What she saw there was love. She also saw honesty, compassion, and need.

Rick lifted the bottle of warm eucalyptus oil from the warmer and covered his hands one last time. He started with her arms and moved inward towards her body. Once he was finished with both arms, he started with her neck and worked his way down. He could tell she was becoming more and more aroused by what he was doing because her nipples were sticking up like mountain peaks. He, of course, would never let a good opportunity go to waste so nonchalantly rubbed his hands over both of her nipples. He cups are breasts loosely just to feel them. He was right they were beautiful. Seeing that she had her eyes closed he moved his way down to her abdomen and worked there until she started to squirm due to being ticklish. Before he got the warning to stop, he moved south. He worked the tired muscles in her legs, her feet, especially her arches and then back up her leg. According to the book, the massage was now complete. Now it was time for him to have a little fun with her. He could still tell her eyes were closed and he had placed a generous amount of eucalyptus oil on his middle finger. He started working her inner thigh getting oh so close to her clit but not actually touching it just to get her more aroused. He brushed against it a couple of times to make sure he was sending the right sign to her. He needn't do that because by the time is middle finger was inserted between her folds and into her center it slid right in with no resistance. She was so wet already. He had read books about women and the ability to ejaculate so he placed his hand firmly on her abdomen right above her pubic bone. His finger was going to town on her clit and at the same time, he was working hard to make her come.

Xx

She was on fire! Everywhere his fingers touched her it felt like her skin was burning up. She wanted more, oh so much more! She wanted him to touch her so badly and then her wish came true. She felt the palm of his hand pressing down on her abdomen and didn't understand why. It's when he slid his finger into her core that she understood and spread her legs slightly. He was pumping his finger up towards her G spot with a fury of a madman to get her to come. It happened so quickly that she felt like she was peeing on his hand.

He just watched as her whole body shook passionately on the massage table. He could tell she was having one of the best orgasms of her life. He wanted to give her another one just to make her happy but before he could, she was coming down off her high.

Kate had never experienced what just happened to her ever! He had done something to her that no man had ever done to her and she wanted more. Coming down from her high she opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that Rick had too many articles of clothing on. To get his attention she cupped his balls and squeezed lightly. It gave her the desired result.

"Rick you're wearing clothes."

"That's right Kate I am."

"Lose them right NOW!"

He backed away when she released his manhood and he took everything off he had on. Knowing that she would want to remove the excess eucalyptus oil from her body he reached in to pick her up from the table for the next part of her gift. By the time he moved to the tub, it was at the perfect temperature. He gently placed her into the water and slid in behind her.

"Kate let me wash you. This bath water has exfoliants in it and I have a body scrub for your enjoyment."

"Rick that's good and all but I need your cock inside me now! Please!"

He made quick work of washing her and they both got out and dried off. Reaching the bed Kate flopped down and dragged Rick with her. When he landed just about on top of her he needed to ask her just one thing.

"Kate if we take this step now there is no turning back.

"Rick, there will be no turning back for me. I want and need you in my life. You are my one and done."

When he heard that he knew that she was the one for him.

He raised slightly and positioned his cock at her core's entrance. Looking up to her one last time she nodded to him and he plunged deep inside her. She wrapped her legs around his waist not wanting him to get away from her. She was meeting his thrusts with equal eagerness. He knew she was close again when her muscles started to grip his cock tighter. He kept driving into her to reach his release point when she met hers. He heard her moan out his name and he knew she was there. He gave three more solid thrusts and buried his come deep inside her.

All she saw was a blinding bright white light when she came. She was sure he did as well and he did something she had not expected. Instead of collapsing right on top of her, when she recovered from her orgasm, he was lying right beside her tracing his fingers into the skin above her abdomen.

"Rick that was mind-blowing sex! I don't think that I'll be able to walk in the morning."

"Kate, I can only hope that this is the beginning of what's ahead for us tonight. I have plans for you and me."

By the time the sun rises, there is no way either of them wants to get out of bed. They stay snuggled close to each other after six rounds of mind-blowing satisfying sex. He needs to do this before he loses his courage.

"Kate, can you stay here for just a second?"

"Sure Rick where am I going to go to? I have no clothes to put on!"

He springs from the bed buck naked and over to his dresser where he kept the blue velvet box between his socks. Taking it from the drawer he heads back to Kate. Standing at her side of the bed he drops down to one knee. He pulls his hand from behind his back to reveal the box.

"Kate I know that this might be a bit quick but would you marry me?" Rick says as he removed the rind from the box and waits for her answer holding his breath.

God this man he would give her the moon if she asked for it. He is caring, sweet, considerate, and a great father. Why shouldn't she marry him?

"Yes, Rick I will."

He places the ring on her ring finger and hugs her.

Xx

"Alexis, do you think he asked her?"

"Yeah, Eli I do. But I'm sure we'll find out by the time we get home."

It was Eli's job to meet Alexis at her friend's home right down the street from his friend's home and escort her back to their own home. As they walked back to their house, they could only hope that they would become a true family.

Xx

15 years forward…

She was so glad that she accepted his proposal. She's glad because not soon after their romantic night together, Kate found out that she was going to have a baby. It wasn't that they have to get married sooner they wanted to. Of course, Eli and Alexis were staunch supporters of their marriage and even helped out setting it up. It was a simple service her mom and dad and a couple of Ricks friends attended.

She watches this from a seat near the aisle as her daughter accepts her high school diploma. Camille who had decided to graduate a year earlier so she could get the first crack at a great college accepts the diploma from the principal. Turning when she takes it from his hand towards her mother and father the smile that graces her face it's something that they both expected. She was smart and she knew it. If it all worked out, she would become a solar energy technician. She also took classes dealing with wind energy as well. And as everyone knows in Texas it is very hot and at times very windy depending on where you located. She feels his hand intertwined with hers and she looks over at him. He has gotten a little bit of gray around the temples and she has as well but she hides it better. Alexis and Eli have been married now for three and five years respectively. Rick knows that soon that will be grandchildren running around and dreads the day that it happens. Eli met a wonderful woman when he was in college. He is now following his dream of baseball and became a physical therapist for the Texas Rangers. Alexis was just finished with nursing school when she met her beau. She had always loved what Kate had done and was amazed by the stories she heard when Kate came home from work. She became a registered nurse as well and now works at Baylor. One night a man came in with another man by ambulance who was lying on the side of the road. He was being a good Samaritan by calling 911 and once the Ambulance Service responding decided that his first-hand knowledge of the man in the ditch would be important, they took him with them.

It turned out that the man was hit while walking home from the bar. He was doing the right thing by not driving and got hit in the process. The man did survive with non-life-threatening injuries but Mark could not get over Alexis is a beauty. He decided to strike up a conversation after they did they decided to meet for dinner one night. And the rest they say is history.

Kate thinks back to when they met and she still wonders if her life would be as full as it was. She thinks that it wouldn't be. And it was all because she decided to take a chance and share a home with a very wonderful man…


End file.
